# NTSB LAX05CA082: Cessna 172S, N521JD, Coalinga, CA, February 2, 2005 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: February 2, 2005, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC) - Place: Coalinga, CA - Coordinates: 36.247776, -120.237503 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.2478&lon=-120.2375&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report April 28, 2005 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 60955 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX05CA082 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/60955/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX05CA082 ## Probable cause the pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, and his failure to abort the landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Hard landing, landing - roll - flare - misjudged, pilot in command - recovery from bounced landing - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - Overrun, landing - roll - aborted landing - not performed, pilot in command (cause) - Nose over, landing - roll - terrain condition - soft ## Analysis The airplane encountered soft soil and nosed over during a landing overrun. The pilot said he touched down beyond the threshold and the airplane bounced once. By the time the pilot had recovered from the bounce and the airplane was in the landing rollout, the pilot determined that insufficient runway remained to stop the airplane. He elected not to perform an aborted landing due to the short runway and continued braking efforts. The airplane overran the end of the runway and the nose landing gear encountered soft dirt. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. ## Factual narrative On February 2, 2005, about 1530 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172S, N521JD, veered off the runway and nosed over during landing rollout at Harris Ranch Airport, Coalinga, California. Kern Charter Service, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Bakersfield Municipal Airport, Bakersfield, California, about 1435. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. In telephone interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the pilot reported that he performed a normal landing on runway 32 at Coalinga. The airplane touched down past the runway designation markings, and at the airplane's normal touchdown speed, about 50 knots. During touchdown, the airplane bounced once, and the pilot attempted to correct and transition the airplane to the landing rollout. Established in the landing rollout phase, the pilot determined that insufficient runway remained to stop the airplane. He elected not to perform an aborted landing due to the short runway. The airplane overran the end of the runway and the nose landing gear impacted soft dirt. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. The Airport/Facility Directory Southwest U.S., indicated that runway 32 was 2,820 feet long, 30 feet wide. Advisory Circular 61-21A, Flight Training Handbook, under Bouncing During Touchdown, states in part: 1. When the airplane contacts the ground with a sharp impact as the result of an improper attitude or an excessive sink rate, it tends to bounce back into the air; 2. The severity of the bounce depends on the airspeed at the moment of contact and the degree to which the angle of attack or pitch attitude was increased; 3. When a bounce is severe, the safest procedure is to execute a go-around immediately. No attempt to salvage the landing should be made; and 4. The go-around procedure should be continued even though the airplane may descend and another bounce may be encountered. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N521JD](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N521JD), registered now, S/N 172S8027, built 1998 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 172S - Registry model: [Cessna 172S](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172s) (registry code 2072439) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming I0-360-B1E](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-i0-360-b1e) (registry code 41559, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 172S8027 - Engines: Lycoming IO-360 Series reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Kern Charter Service Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: L45, Bakersfield, CA - Destination: 3O8, Coalinga, CA - Airport: 3O8, Harris Ranch Airport, runway 32, 2,820 × 30 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 39; private; medical: class 3; flight hours: 200 total, 200 in this make and model, 100 in the last 90 days, 1 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20050202001099A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050202001099A), Feb 2, 2005: Cessna 172S, Coalinga, CA, Substantial damage. (-23) On 02/02/2005, at approximately 1530 PST, the pilot [privacy data omitted] pilot in command of Cessna 172S, N521JD, operating under 14 CFR 91 in VMC… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.