- Date
- October 20, 1994, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Rialto, CA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8760FPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 16, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941020038059A
- Case key
- 28969
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 flight instructor's loss of airplane control during the landing flare as a result of his inadequate supervision of the flight and delayed corrective action over his presolo student's control inputs.
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 flight instructor (CFI) reported that during the accident flight he was trying to teach his presolo student how to perform a forward slip and landing. The CFI indicated that the student initiated the assigned slip, and the airplane descended toward runway 24. During the approach, the CFI applied corrections to the amount of pitch his student was using, and at times he also made corrections to the flight path. When the student initiated the landing flare, he pulled the yoke up 'fast and a little high,' and the airplane started drifting left. The CFI stated that between 3 and 5 seconds before touchdown, he took the controls from his student and initiated corrective action. The airplane, however, touched down hard several feet left of the runway centerline, and he lost control of it. The airplane veered off the 4,500-foot-long by 100-foot-wide runway and came to rest on a northeasterly heading in an open field of weeds. Neither the CFI nor the student reported having experienced any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On October 20, 1994, at 1500 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA- 28-181, N8760F, operated by the California International School of Aviation, collided with rough terrain adjacent to the Rialto Municipal (uncontrolled) Airport, Rialto, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the instructional flight. The airplane was substantially damaged, and none of the four occupants were injured. The crew consisted of a flight instructor (CFI), who held a commercial pilot certificate, and a student pilot. The flight originated from Pomona, California, at 1350.
The CFI reported that during the accident flight he was, in part, attempting to teach his presolo student how to land the airplane. When the accident occurred, the CFI was specifically trying to instruct the student in performing a forward slip to a landing.
According to the CFI, his student initiated the slip as he had instructed, and the airplane descended. During the approach, the CFI applied corrections to the amount of pitch his student was using, and at times he also made corrections to the flight path. The student initiated the landing flare by pulling the yoke up "fast and a little high," and the airplane started drifting left.
The CFI also reported that, between 3 and 5 seconds before touchdown, he took the controls from his student and initiated corrective action; however, the airplane touched down hard several feet left of the runway centerline, and he lost control of it. The airplane veered off the runway and came to rest on a northeasterly heading in a field of weeds.
Neither the CFI nor the student reported having experienced any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Runway 06/24 at Rialto airport was 4,500 feet long and 100 feet wide.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8760F
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7790264
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Calif Intl. School Of Aviation
- Registered owner
- Wind Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Provisional (Special); Standard, Normal
- Departed
- POC · Bracket Field, CA
- Airport
- L67 · Rialto Municipal, runway 24, 4,500 × 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
- 24
- Certificates
- Commercial, Foreign, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 812 total · 400 in this make and model · 735 as pilot in command · 83 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.