- Date
- September 3, 1996, 12:10 local (16:10 UTC)
- Place
- Stuart, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93102Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 16, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960903035689A
- Case key
- 38081
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, resulting in a loss of directional control, collapse of the nose gear, and subsequent nose down on 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 stated he was landing with a left crosswind. As he came over the end of the runway, the airplane started to float. He elected not to add power. He failed to round out and made a hard landing on the nose wheel. The airplane bounced and he lost directional control. The nose wheel collided with the runway and collapsed. The airplane collided with the ground in a nose down attitude and came to a stop.
Factual narrative
On September 3, 1996, about 1210 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N93102, registered to J.R. Leasing Inc, operated by American International, as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed on landing at Stuart-Whitman Field, Stuart, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated from Melbourne, Florida, about 1 hour 10 minutes before the accident.
The student pilot stated he was landing with a gusty left crosswind with 20-degree flaps. As he came over the end of the runway, the airplane started to float. He elected not to add any power. He did not round out and made a hard landing on the nose wheel. The airplane bounced resulting in a loss of directional control. The nose wheel collided with the runway and collapsed. The airplane collided with the ground in a nose down attitude and came to a stop.
Review of weather information from Fort Pierce, Florida, for the time period of the accident, revealed no recorded record of turbulence, downdrafts, gusts or windshear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93102
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285402
- Airframe hours
- 6,800
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- American International
- Registered owner
- J.R. Leasing Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 21, 1996 · 86 hours before
- Departed
- MLB · Melbourne, FL
- Destination
- SUA
- Airport
- SUA · Stuart-Whitman Field, runway 7, 5,000 × 200 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20 total · 20 in this make and model · 20 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FPR, 20 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.