- Date
- April 14, 1995, 12:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4778BCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950414034419A
- Case key
- 37758
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 failure of the student pilot to maintain directional control during landing. A contributing factor was the delayed remedial action to attempt a go-around.
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 stated that during landing attempt he lost directional control of the airplane, attempted a go-around, aborted the G0-around, and struck an airport sign off the runway.
Factual narrative
On April 14, 1995, about 1215 eastern daylight time, N4778B, a Cessna 152 registered to Chandelle Aviation Inc. experienced gear damage on landing at West Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 solo instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot reported no injuries. The flight had originated about 1 hour earlier.
The student stated that while attempting a landing he lost control of the airplane and the airplane started drifting to the right. He then attempted a go-around and the airplane drifted and started to sink. The student then reduced engine power to idle and attempted to land. The airplane then struck an airport sign and landed off the runway. The main landing gear attachment fixture was damaged, and the airport sign was destroyed. The damage to the airplane was not determined to be substantial until April 12, 1995.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4778B
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 83629
- Airframe hours
- 7,010
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Chandelle Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 4, 1995 · 43 hours before
- Airport
- PBI · Palm Beach Intl., runway 9, 3,700 × 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
- 24
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 23 total · 23 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.