- Date
- February 3, 2005, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Desert Center, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N472RACessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20050203002299A
- Case key
- 60964
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 instructor's improper decision to land on the dry lakebed without knowing the condition of the landing surface. A factor in the accident was the soft sand surface of the lake bed.
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 airplane nosed over during an attempted landing on a dry lake bed. During a cross-country instructional flight, the instructor attempted to demonstrate an off airport, soft field landing on a dry lakebed. The instructor had not previously planned to land on the dry lakebed and had no information as to the condition of the landing surface. The landing surface was softer than the instructor anticipated. During the touchdown, the main landing gear sank into the sand, and the airplane nosed over. The instructor stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.
Factual narrative
On February 3, 2005, about 1330 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172M, N472RA, collided with terrain during an off airport, soft field landing near Desert Center, California. Stang-Air was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and pilot undergoing instruction (PUI) were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Brackett Field Airport, La Verne, California, about 1300, with the planned destination of Ernest A. Love Field Airport, Prescott, Arizona. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed.
In a statement to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator in-charge (IIC), the CFI reported that while in cruise flight, he decided to demonstrate an off airport, soft field landing on a dry lakebed. The CFI had not previously planned to land on the dry lakebed and had no information as to the condition of the landing surface. The landing surface was softer than the CFI anticipated. During the touchdown, the main landing gear sank into the sand, and the airplane nosed over.
The CFI stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N472RA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266910
- Airframe hours
- 6,544.8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Stang-Air
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 1, 2004 · 63.5 hours before
- Departed
- POC · La Verne, CA
- Destination
- PRC · Prescott, AZ
- Airport
- Dry Lake Bed
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
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 1, 2005
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 682 total · 184 in this make and model · 507 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 90 days · 41 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- BLH
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.