- Date
- October 3, 1991, 17:02 local (Oct 4, 1991, 00:02 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N55394Piper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911004044639A
- Case key
- 27466
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 maintain control of the aircraft during a recovery from a bounced 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
Ground witnesses at the airport reported that the aircraft was performing a series of touch and go operations. The aircraft landed hard on touchdown and became airborne again. The aircraft was observed to begin a low level left turn at about 20 feet AGL and it collided with two light poles about 150 yards from the runway centerline. FAA inspectors examined the extensively burned aircraft wreckage. They reported that the control cables were properly routed within the structure and that the flap actuators were found in the up position. No aircraft or system abnormalities were found during the examination.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55394
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7325392
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Keehn, Timothy L.
- Registered owner
- Keehn, Timothy L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Airport
- 0O1 · Santa Rosa, runway 16, 7,000 × 200 ft, concrete
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 50 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 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.