- Date
- December 26, 1990, 13:50 local (21:50 UTC)
- Place
- Yucca Valley, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5258DCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901226056149A
- Case key
- 27081
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 pilot's improper use of the flaps. Contributing to this accident was the loss of control during tailwind landing, and his tailwind and the pilot's inadequate inflight planning.
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 pilot attempted to contact the UNICOM on the CTAF for an airport traffic advisory but to no avail. The pilot then assumed that the landing runway was 24 and he set up an approach accordingly. The active runway however was 06, and the surface winds were 030 degrees at 15 knots. After passing over the threshold the airplane's stall warning horn sounded. The pilot elected to go-around and inadvertently fully retracted the flaps. Realizing his mistake the pilot lowered the flaps, but the airplane stalled, sustained a hard landing on the nose gear and nosed over onto its back.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5258D
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172N
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cableair
- Departed
- L80 · Joshua Tree, CA
- Airport
- L22 · Yucca Valley, runway 24, 3,686 × 90 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
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 77 total · 44 in this make and model · 35 as pilot in command · 41 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.