- Date
- June 28, 1996, 18:15 local (Jun 29, 1996, 01:15 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N68459Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 16, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 29487
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 solo student pilot misjudged the landing flare resulting in a hard landing. A factor in the accident was low airspeed.
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 let his airspeed get too low and he flared too high on the landing. The airplane touched down hard and bounced. On the second bounce the nose gear collapsed and the pilot lost direction control. The airplane slid off the left side of the runway and came to rest in a grassy area adjacent to the runway.
Factual narrative
On June 28, 1996, at 1815 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N68459, collapsed the nose gear during landing on runway 14 at the Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa, California. The airplane was being operated by Aero Venture, Petaluma, California, as an instructional flight under 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the student pilot was not injured. The flight originated in Petaluma about 1700 hours. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The winds were from 230 degrees at 10 knots.
The pilot indicated on his accident report that he let his airspeed get "too low" and "flared too high." The airplane landed hard and bounced. On the second touchdown the nose gear collapsed. The airplane slid off the left side of the runway and came to rest in a grassy area adjacent to the runway. The pilot reported no mechanical problems with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68459
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 152-82303
- Airframe hours
- 8,296
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Venture
- Registered owner
- Hodge, Richard D.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 13, 1996 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- O69 · Petaluma, CA
- Destination
- STS
- Airport
- STS · Sonoma County, runway 14, 5,115 × 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 34 total · 34 in this make and model · 7 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- STS
Other investigations on N68459 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.