- Date
- October 5, 1997, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Dover, DE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N89627Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971005030089A
- Case key
- 28259
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's misjudgment of distance and speed which resulted in an overrun of the runway.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot took off and practiced maneuvers for 45 minutes. After completion of two landings at another airport, he returned to his home airport for additional landings. The student pilot completed two landings and was on the third when the accident occurred. The runway was 2,533 feet long with a 539 foot displaced threshold. The student pilot recalled that on final everything was the same as the two previous landings, except he was a little higher and a little faster. With 30 degrees of flaps, the student pilot pushed forward on the yoke and the airspeed increased to about 70 knots. The airplane bounced at midfield, settled back to the runway, where he applied heavy braking. The airplane skidded off the end of the runway into a freshly plowed garden. The nose gear sank into the soft ground, collapsing the nose gear. The airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airframe or engine.
Factual narrative
On October 5, 1997, about 1530 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N89627, was substantially damaged as it nose over after departing the runway during landing at the Chandelle Estates Airport (0N4), Dover, Delaware. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot took off from 0N4 and practiced flight maneuvers for 45 minutes. He flew to the Smyrna Airport, Smyrna, Delaware, for two landings, and returned to 0N4 for additional landings. The pilot stated that he had already completed two landings and was executing the third one when the accident happened.
Runway 04 was 2,533 feet long with a 539 foot displaced threshold. The pilot recalled that on final everything was the same as the two previous landings, except he was a little higher and a little faster. With 30 degrees of flaps, the student pilot remembered pushing forward on the yoke and the airspeed increased to about 70 knots. His plan was to touch down by midfield, or abort the landing. The airplane bounced at midfield, settled back to the runway, and the pilot applied heavy braking. The airplane skidded off the end of the runway into a freshly plowed garden. The nose gear sank into the soft ground, collapsing, and the airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted.
A Federal Aviation Administration Inspector examined the wreckage. The examination revealed that the nose gear strut broke off, the fire wall was damaged, and both wings incurred spar damage. The pilot reported that he did not have any mechanical problems with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N89627
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15282806
- Airframe hours
- 4,321
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Jim Strong Aviation, Inc., doing business as Jim Strong Aviation
- Registered owner
- Double L Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 8, 1997 · 11 hours before
- Departed
- 0N4
- Destination
- 0N4
- Airport
- 0N4 · Chandelle Airport, runway 4, 2,533 × 28 ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 19
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 31 total · 28 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N89627 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.