- Date
- October 25, 2000, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ramona, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5447LCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20001025015699A
- Case key
- 50560
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 dual student's habit interference, from his previous training in a different type of airplane, that precipitated his improper use of the elevator control during a go-around.
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 instructor ordered the student to go-around and the student pushed forward on the control wheel with his left hand and pulled back on the throttle with his right hand. The airplane struck the runway in a nose down attitude resulting in substantial damage. The student's approach had been "high and fast" and they were at 7 feet agl and 70 knots at midfield. The student pilot was a retired military pilot with about 4,000 hours of experience flying military fighter airplanes. The accident occurred on the student's third flight in an airplane with a control wheel. In the accident airplane, the left-seated pilot typically manipulates the control wheel with the left hand and the throttle with the right hand. In most military fighter airplanes, the throttle is manipulated with the left hand and the stick is manipulated with the right hand.
Factual narrative
On October 25, 2000, about 1330 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N5447L, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at Ramona, California. Pinnacle Aviation Academy was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The certified flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The instructional flight departed McClellan-Palomar airport, Carlsbad, California, about 1200. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
According to the operator, the flight instructor and student pilot were practicing a touch-and-go at Ramona after practicing steep turns and unusual attitude recoveries earlier in the flight. The flight instructor stated that the student's approach was "high and fast," and that at midfield they were at 7 feet agl and 70 knots. The instructor ordered the student to go-around and the student pushed forward on the control wheel with his left hand and pulled back on the throttle with his right hand. The airplane struck the runway in a nose down attitude, causing damage to the propeller, nose landing gear, lower cowling, engine mount, and firewall.
According to the operator, the student pilot is a retired Naval Aviator with about 4,000 hours of experience flying military jet airplanes. The accident occurred on the student's third flight in an airplane with a control wheel. In the accident airplane, the left-seated pilot typically manipulates the control wheel with the left hand and the throttle with the right hand. In most military fighter airplanes, the throttle is manipulated with the left hand and the stick is manipulated with the right hand.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5447L
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284317
- Airframe hours
- 4,814
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pinnacle Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- Pinnacle Aviation Services, In
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 13, 2000 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- CRQ · Carlsbad, CA
- Destination
- RNM
- Airport
- RNM · Ramona, runway 27, 4,000 × 150 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
- 30
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 263 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 163 °F, dew point 115 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNM
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 N5447L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.