- Date
- December 29, 1995, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Quartzite, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1246QCessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 6, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19951229042769A
- Case key
- 29361
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's misjudgement of his distance and altitude relationship to the runway, which resulted in an undershoot and failure to achieve the proper touchdown point for 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
The pilot reported that during a landing, the airplane touched down short of the dirt runway and struck a log, which broke the nose wheel axle. The airplane subsequently ground looped and came to rest beside the runway.
Factual narrative
On December 29, 1995, at 1000 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 150L, N1246Q, landed short of the runway at Quartzite, Arizona, and struck a log. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the operation. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight originated at Quartzite on the day of the accident at 0930 as a local area personal flight.
In his written statement, the pilot reported that he touched down short of the dirt runway and struck a log, which broke the nose wheel axle. The aircraft subsequently ground looped off the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1246Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15072546
- Airframe hours
- 4,549
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dean D. Monson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 7, 1995 · 22 hours before
- Departed
- 2L3
- Airport
- 2L3 · Quartzite Airstrip, runway 35, 4,000 × 60 ft, dirt
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
- 70
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 650 total · 100 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 25 °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.