- Date
- December 27, 1991, 09:46 local (17:46 UTC)
- Place
- Lancaster, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8259SCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911227057529A
- Case key
- 27525
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 misjudging the landing flare. A factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of total flight experience.
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 information supplied by the operator and the FAA inspector who examined the airplane after the accident, the nose gear collapsed following a hard landing. The aircraft then veered to the left and nosed over as it departed the runway. According to the operator, the student pilot had a total of 27 hours of aeronautical experience with 5 of those hours as pilot in command (solo).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8259S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15061859
- Airframe hours
- 3,575
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Midfield Aviation
- Registered owner
- William R. Whitehart
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 9, 1991 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- APV · Apple Valley, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- WJF · General Wm. J. Fox Afld, runway 24, 5,001 × 150 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
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 27 total · 27 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- WJF, 1 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 N8259S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.