- Date
- April 1, 2008, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- El Cajon, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N64938Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080401014029A
- Case key
- 67781
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 inadequate compensation for gusty, crosswind conditions, and failure to maintain an adequate airspeed.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student was on a solo flight to practice touch-and-go landings. He said he made six successful landings, but noticed that the winds were increasing. On the seventh approach, the winds were variable and started to gust. The student said that he maintained 55 knots as he came over the approach end of the runway. The airplane suddenly drifted to the left side of the runway. He used ailerons, and corrected to the centerline. The airplane touched down hard, and bounced. After the airplane came to rest, he saw smoke and fire, and evacuated from the airplane.
Factual narrative
On April 1, 2008, about 1500 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N64938, experienced a hard landing at Gillespie Field, El Cajon, California. Fly CFA LLC was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The student pilot was not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage during a post crash fire. The local instructional flight departed Gillespie about 1400. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The student was on a solo flight to practice touch-and-go landings. He made six successful landings, but noticed that the winds were increasing. On the seventh approach, he stated that the winds were variable and started to gust.
The student said that he maintained 55 knots as he came over the approach end of the runway. The airplane suddenly drifted to the left side of the runway. He used ailerons, and corrected to the centerline. The airplane touched down hard, and bounced. After the airplane came to rest, he saw smoke and fire, and evacuated from the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64938
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15281486
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Fly CFA LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 1, 2008
- Departed
- SEE · El Cajkon, CA
- Destination
- SEE · El Cajkon, CA
- Airport
- KSEE · Gillespie Field, runway 27L, 2,738 × 60 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
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 27 total · 27 in this make and model · 27 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KSEE
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.