- Date
- July 28, 1996, 13:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Knightdale, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N704WMCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 18, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960728020169A
- Case key
- 38060
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 pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing by applying power and slight nose up elevator input.
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 accident occurred during the student pilot's second solo flight. He stated that he had performed 3 full stop landings and departed for the fourth. He initiated a flare to land about 20 feet above the runway then pushed on the elevator control. The airplane then landed on the nose landing gear and began to porpoise. The pilot applied aft elevator input but he did not apply power. He landed the airplane and taxied it off the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed a wrinkle in the left fuselage skin aft of the firewall.
Factual narrative
On July 28, 1996, about 1315 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N704WM, privately registered, experienced a loss of control while landing at the Raleigh East Airport, Knightdale, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from the Raleigh East Airport about 35 minutes earlier.
The student pilot stated that the flight was his second solo flight and before the accident he had performed three full stop landings. During the fourth full stop landing attempt he flared to land when the flight was 20 feet above the runway. He then pushed on the elevator control and the airplane was landed nose landing gear first then began to porpoise. The student pilot stated that he did not apply power and pulled elevator control input while the airplane was porpoising. He landed the airplane and taxied it off the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed a wrinkle in the left side of the fuselage aft of the firewall. Also, the nose landing gear tire was deflated.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N704WM
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078932
- Airframe hours
- 4,800
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Raleigh East Aviation
- Registered owner
- Casey P. Sloan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 15, 1996 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- W17
- Airport
- W17 · Raleigh East, runway 19, 3,000 × 36 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
- 38
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 22 total · 20 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDU, 17 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.