- Date
- July 12, 1994, 16:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Livermore, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5351LCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 26, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 28803
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 student's misjudged landing flare and improper bounced landing recovery.
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 student pilot's flight instructor reported that he endorsed the student for solo flying. He then proceeded into the control tower to watch the first solo flight. The student took off and landed two times without incident. On the third landing, the airplane was flared too high. The airplane bounced and porpoised on the runway buckling the airplane's firewall.
Factual narrative
On July 12, 1994, at 1600 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N5351L, operated by Ahart Aviation, Inc., was substantially damaged during a hard landing at the Livermore Municipal Airport, Livermore, California. The student pilot was not injured. The flight originated from the Livermore Airport at 1550.
The student pilot's flight instructor observed the accident. In summary, he reported that after the student had successfully performed five landings, he endorsed her student certificate for solo. He then proceeded into the control tower to observe the flight. The student's first two landings were uneventful. During the third landing, the student flared high and the airplane bounced and porpoised on the runway. The airplane's firewall was examined and was found buckled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5351L
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284298
- Airframe hours
- 8,273
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Ahart Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Ahart Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Provisional (Special); Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 27, 1994 · 96 hours before
- Airport
- LVK · Livermore Municipal, runway 25R, 5,255 × 100 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
- 50
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 25 total · 25 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F
- Observed at
- LVK