- Date
- October 28, 1997, 09:41 local (16:41 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N49788Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 15, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971028031059A
- Case key
- 29987
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 inadvertent application of left brake during touchdown, and the instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
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 instructor reported that the student flared abruptly and the aircraft ballooned. As the aircraft touched down, it immediately turned violently to the left. The instructor said he got on the controls and applied right rudder to stop the turn; however, the aircraft left the paved surface, encountered a drainage swale in the grassy area between the runways, and nosed over. The instructor stated that there was no mechanical malfunction of the aircraft prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On October 28, 1997, at 0941 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 152, N49788, veered off runway 21R during landing, collided with a ditch and nosed over at the Prescott, Arizona, airport. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor and the dual student were not injured. The local area instructional flight originated at Prescott at 0900.
The instructor reported that the student flared abruptly and the aircraft ballooned. As the aircraft touched down, it immediately turned violently to the left. The instructor said he got on the controls and applied right rudder to stop the turn; however, the aircraft left the paved surface, encountered a drainage swale in the grassy area between the runways, and nosed over. The instructor stated that there was no mechanical malfunction of the aircraft prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N49788
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15283515
- Airframe hours
- 5,662
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert H. Meinke
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 2, 1997 · 72 hours before
- Departed
- PRC
- Airport
- PRC · Ernest Love Field, runway 21R, 4,842 × 60 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
- 40
- Certificates
- Commercial, 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
- 932 total · 69 in this make and model · 801 as pilot in command · 79 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.