- Date
- June 22, 2006, 09:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Concord, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5534MCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20060622013609A
- Case key
- 63966
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 pilot's unstabilized approach, misjudged landing flare, inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, and failure to maintain directional control. A contributing factor to the accident was the in-flight distraction.
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 landed hard and the left wing struck the runway. The student pilot reported that when he turned the airplane onto the final leg of the traffic pattern, he noticed smoke coming from a field close to the runway. The student pilot was worried about his flight visibility and the effects that the smoke would have on the handling characteristics of the airplane. Due to these concerns, he was less focused on his landing and approached the runway at too high of an airspeed. When the airplane touched down, it bounced three times and drifted to the left. He added right rudder to prevent the airplane from veering off of the runway and the airplane sharply turned to the right and the left wing struck the ground. The student pilot said that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On June 22, 2006, at 0920 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N5534M, landed hard and the left wing struck the runway at Buchanan Field Airport, Concord, California. Pacific States Aviation, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to a rib in the left wing. The pilot departed from Concord and was performing his first solo landing when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.
In a written statement, the student pilot reported that the downwind and base turn of the traffic pattern were uneventful. When he turned the airplane onto the final leg of the traffic pattern, he noticed smoke coming from a field close to the runway. The student pilot was worried about his flight visibility and the effects that the smoke would have on the handling characteristics of the airplane. Due to these concerns, he was less focused on his landing and approached the runway at too high of an airspeed. When the airplane touched down, it bounced three times and drifted to the left. He added right rudder to prevent the airplane from veering off of the runway and the airplane sharply turned to the right and the left wing struck the ground. The student pilot said that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5534M
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284608
- Engine
- Textron Lycoming O-235-L2C, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Pacific States Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- CCR · Concord, CA
- Destination
- CCR · Concord, CA
- Airport
- CCR · Buchanen Field, runway 19L, 2,770 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 35
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 33 total · 29 in this make and model · 33 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- 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.