- Date
- October 28, 1999, 17:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cornelia, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5389QCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 5, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991028045899A
- Case key
- 47677
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 misjudged the flare, causing the airplane to porpoise, and subsequently impact with the runway
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 student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight, and upon landing at the destination airport the student pilot over controlled the airplane and it began to porpoise. The airplane then descended in a nose-low attitude until the propeller struck the runway, causing the nose gear to break off. The airplane continued to skid down the runway, departed the runway to the left, then returned to the runway, coming to rest near the centerline. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or engine. At the time of the accident the pilot had a total of 67.8 flight hours.
Factual narrative
On October 28, 1999, about 1730 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N5389Q, registered to New Horizon Aviation, impacted with the ground during a landing at the Habersham County Airport, Cornelia, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 solo cross-country instructional flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight had departed from Greenville, South Carolina, en route to Cornelia, Georgia, at 1630.
The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight, and according to her CFI (certified flight instructor) she was qualified to conduct the flight and had been endorsed by the CFI. While attempting to land at the destination airport the airplane began to porpoise. The airplane then descended in a nose-low attitude striking the runway, and breaking off the nose gear. The airplane continued to skid down the runway, departed the runway to the left, then returned to the runway, coming to rest near the centerline.
According to the student pilot's CFI, "...upon the attempt to land...the student pilot over controlled the aircraft causing the airplane to porpoise or create a pilot induced oscillation (POI). The aircraft continued its PIO until it descended in an extreme nose low attitude with sufficent force to break the nose wheel allowing for the...propeller to contact the ground, at about 1,500 feet down the runway."
At the time of the accident the pilot had a total of 67.8 flight hours. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5389Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285107
- Airframe hours
- 8,570
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- New Horizon Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 1999 · 242 hours before
- Departed
- GYH · Greenville, SC
- Destination
- AJR
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- AJR · Habersham County, runway 6, 4,200 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 68 total · 68 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GMU
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.