- Date
- November 15, 1998, 11:46 local (16:46 UTC)
- Place
- Caldwell, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N89101Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981115031789A
- Case key
- 45304
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 student's pilot's inadequate climb and his failure to maintain adequate altitude and clearance. A related factor was the wind gusts.
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 practiced flight maneuvers for approximately 2 hours during the local solo flight. During landing on runway 27, the pilot said a gust of wind lifted the airplane to a nose high pitch attitude. Full power was applied to abort the landing but the airplane would not climb. The airplane descended and collided with terrain. The student pilot reported there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. Winds were reported to be from 300 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 20.
Factual narrative
On November 15, 1998, at 1146 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N89101, was substantially damaged after a loss of control during landing at the Essex County Airport (CDW), Caldwell, New Jersey. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local solo instructional flight that originated at CDW, at 0950. No flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a telephone interview, the pilot said the purpose of the flight was to practice flight maneuvers for a flight evaluation he had scheduled for later in the month. He departed the traffic pattern, flew to a local training area, completed the planned training, and returned for landing on runway 27. The pilot said that prior to departure he obtained weather information from DUATS, Flight Service, and the local ATIS. He said:
"Everything went fine. I went out and did all my training. When I came back, conditions were different, they were gusty. My approach speed was 60, but my ground speed was significantly slower. When I touched down, a gust lifted me. I tried to do a full power go around, but the plane wouldn't climb. It just descended. When I added full power, the nose was too high - it wouldn't climb - it just veered to the right and stalled. The gust gave it a nose high pitch. I had 30 degrees of flaps in, which may have been too much flaps for that kind of a gust."
When questioned about the airworthiness of the airplane, the pilot said, "The airplane performed fine, I had no problems with the airplane at all."
The pilot reported approximately 145 hours of total flight experience; 45 hours of which were solo.
Winds reported at the time of the accident were from 300 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 20 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N89101
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15282632
- Airframe hours
- 4,207
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mac Dan Aircraft Rental, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- CDW
- Airport
- CDW · Essex County Airport, runway 27, 3,721 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 145 total · 145 in this make and model · 45 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 12 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CDW
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.