- Date
- January 31, 1994, 12:56 local (20:56 UTC)
- Place
- Palo Alto, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2396VCessna 140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940131001229A
- Case key
- 28650
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 cfi's inproper supervision of the flight, the dual student's improper recovery from a bounced landing, and the dual student's improper use of the brakes. The cfi's lack of total instructional experience is a factor in this accident.
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 dual student was practicing wheel landings in a conventional gear airplane. On the last landing, the CFI instructed the dual student to apply the brakes when the airplane was bouncing. The dual student applied the brakes and the airplane nosed over onto its back. The CFI had 12 hours total instructor time of which 3 hours were in the last 90 days.
Factual narrative
On January 31, 1994, at 1256 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 140, N2396V, nosed over while landing on runway 12 at Palo Alto Airport, Palo Alto, California. The pilots were conducting a local visual flight rules instructional flight. The airplane, registered to and operated by the flight instructor, sustained substantial damage. Neither the certificated commercial pilot/flight instructor (CFI) nor the certificated commercial pilot/dual student was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Palo Alto Airport at 1200 hours.
The CFI reported in a telephone interview conducted on February 1, 1994, that the dual student was "being checked out in conventional gear airplanes." The dual student was receiving wheel landing instruction and had made four or five takeoffs and landings before the accident. On the accident landing, the airplane bounced several times. When the airplane stopped bouncing and was rolling on the main wheels, the dual student applied heavy braking at his instruction. The airplane nosed down and flipped over onto its back.
In a telephone interview conducted on February 1, 1994, the dual student said the airplane bounced several times and nosed over when he applied the brakes. He said that the airplane did not experience any preimpact malfunctions or failures.
The CFI submitted the required Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1/2, to the National Transportation Safety Board, Southwest Regional Office. In the report, the CFI said the accident occurred on the fifth landing. The airplane ". . . bounced lightly a few times, then bounced, pitched down & [and] over . . .." He said there was no time to react to arrest the nose over.
The dual student submitted a partial Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1/2. He confirmed the CFI's written statement in the Aircraft Accident Report.
Neither the CFI nor the dual student said anything about applying the brakes in their respective written statements.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2396V
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14638
- Airframe hours
- 7,816
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thille, Nicholas M.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 18, 1993 · 74 hours before
- Departed
- PAO
- Airport
- PAO · Palo Alto/Santa Clara Co., runway 12, 2,500 × 65 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 859 total · 557 in this make and model · 734 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.