- Date
- August 11, 1990, 15:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Coalinga, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9551LCessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900811033039A
- Case key
- 26893
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 failure of the student pilot to accurately interpret the wind sock, and his inadvertent attempt to perform a downwind 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
According to ground witnesses at the airport, the aircraft landed downwind on runway 19. The aircraft was observed to touch down on the first third of the 4,100 foot long runway, travel the full length of the pavement, then skid off the departure end and into a ditch. Heavy skid marks were reported on the last several hundred feet of the pavement. The student pilot stated that he misinterpeted the wind sock indications.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9551L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17272709
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- King Aviation Center, Inc.
- Departed
- PTV · Porterville, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- CLG · Coalinga, runway 19, 4,140 × 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
- 28
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 78 total · 78 in this make and model · 44 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 18 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- PTV, 59 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N9551L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.