- Date
- June 24, 1997, 09:04 local (16:04 UTC)
- Place
- Phoenix, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N96736Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970624015489A
- Case key
- 29817
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 dual student's premature rotation and failure to attain/maintain an adequate airspeed, which lead to a stall/mush and loss of control in-flight, and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight. A factor in this accident was the flight instructor's lack of total experience as an instructor.
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 was a dual instructional flight with an 11-hour primary student, who was making the takeoff. The flight instructor reported that the student rotated at 50 knots. After they accelerated to 60 knots, the airplane began a roll to the right and aileron control was lost. He stated that the airplane began to sink at approximately 30 to 40 feet above ground level. The flight instructor added full power, but the airplane impacted the ground on the wheels and slid into two parked aircraft, a truck, and other ground structures. The aircraft was examined by an FAA airworthiness inspector and no discrepancies were found with the aircraft or control system. The CFI, who obtained his flight instructor certificate 2 months prior to the accident, had a total of 33 hours as a flight instructor, and 290 total hours.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 1997, at 0904 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 152, N96736, slid into two parked, unoccupied general aviation aircraft, a truck, and a support beam of a covered tie down area following an in-flight loss of control immediately after takeoff from Deer Valley Airport, Phoenix, Arizona. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The certified flight instructor and the dual student were not injured. The aircraft was being operated as a local area training flight when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
Review of the pilot accident report revealed that the CFI had 33.3 hours as a flight instructor, and 290.8 hours total time. Additionally, he had logged 28.6 hours in the preceding 30 days. The dual student had 11.4 hours of total time.
The flight instructor was interviewed by an airworthiness inspector from the Scottsdale, Arizona, Flight Standards District Office. The flight instructor told the FAA inspector that the student pilot was performing the takeoff and rotated at 50 knots. After they accelerated to 60 knots, the airplane began a roll to the right and aileron control was lost. He stated that the airplane began to sink at approximately 30 to 40 feet above ground level. The flight instructor added full power, but the airplane impacted the ground on the wheels and slid into the parked aircraft and other objects.
The aircraft was examined by the FAA airworthiness inspector. No discrepancies were found with the aircraft or control system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N96736
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15286019
- Airframe hours
- 6,802
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Dgv Holdings Inc., doing business as Westwind Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- Westwind Ventures, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 13, 1997 · 26 hours before
- Departed
- DVT
- Airport
- DVT · Deer Valley, runway 7, 8,200 × 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
- 18
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 290 total · 156 in this make and model · 214 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 35 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DVT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.