- Date
- April 18, 2001, 13:24 local (20:24 UTC)
- Place
- Chandler, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5377MCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Sunbird Flight Services, Inc., Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20010418007919A
- Case key
- 52108
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 premature flare, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and a bounced landing. A factor was the improper recovery from a bounced landing.
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 pilot flared prematurely, resulting in an inadvertent stall and a bounced landing. The airplane bounced several times, and on the final bounce the nose gear collapsed.
Factual narrative
On April 18, 2001, at 1324 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 152, N5377M, made a hard landing at the Chandler, Arizona, airport. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Sunbird Flight Services, Inc., was operating the airplane under 14 CFR Part 91, and it was rented by the pilot for a local area personal flight. The flight originated from the Chandler Municipal Airport about 1230. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot told a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that as he completed his approach to runway 22L, he misjudged his height above the runway and flared too high. The airplane stalled and bounced several times. On the final bounce the nose gear collapsed.
A postaccident inspection revealed that the firewall had been damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5377M
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284570
- Airframe hours
- 8,723
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C(M), 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sunbird Flight Services, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 13, 2001 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- CHD · Chandler, AZ
- Airport
- CHD · Chandler Municipal, runway 22L, 4,850 × 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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 25, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 220 total · 220 in this make and model · 78 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- CHD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.