- Date
- June 29, 1998, 17:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Columbia, SC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6363BCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 11, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980629015289A
- Case key
- 38541
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's delay in initiating a go-around, which resulted in an inflight collision with power lines.
Analysis
On his second attempt to land on runway 31, the pilot said he came in 'too high,' and used 30 degrees of flaps to 'lose altitude.' He was not 'maintaining directional control' as well as he would have liked, so he initiated a go-around. He added full power, pushed in the carburetor heat and waited for the airspeed to increase before retracting the flaps. He said the airspeed did not 'build up.' As the airplane reached the end of the 4,999-foot runway, it cleared a fence, and the pilot said he 'saw a power line dead ahead.' He 'pulled up' to clear the power lines. The landing gear caught the power line, and the right wing struck the pole. The airplane 'spun around' and nosed into the top of a building where it came to rest. The airplane was seen by witnesses at a slow speed when it struck the power line and impacted the building. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or the engine. At the time of the accident the pilot had a total of 81 flight hours, with 79.6 flight hours in this make and model airplane.
Factual narrative
On June 29, 1998, about 1745 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N6363B, registered to a private individual, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, impacted with wires near Columbia, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot and one passenger reported no injures. The flight had originated from the Columbia Owens Downtown Airport about 1630.
On his second approach to runway 31, the pilot said, "...[he] came in too high, [and] dropped 30 degrees of flaps to lose altitude...I was not maintaining directional control as well as I would like, so began another go-around." He added full power, pushed in the carburetor heat and "waited for [the] airspeed to build up before retracting [the] flaps...[the] airspeed did not build up." As the airplane reached the end of the 4,999-foot runway, it cleared a fence, and the pilot said he then "saw a power line dead ahead." He "pulled up" to clear the power lines. The landing gear caught the power line, and the right wing struck the pole. The airplane "spun around" and nosed into the top of a building where it came to rest. The airplane was seen by witnesses at a slow speed before it struck the power line and impacted the building. Nobody on the ground was injured. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or the engine.
At the time of the accident the pilot had a total of 81 flight hours, with 79.6 flight hours in this make and model airplane.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6363B
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15283925
- Airframe hours
- 9,189
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jim Hamilton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 12, 1998 · 47 hours before
- Departed
- CUB
- Airport
- CUB · Columbia Downtown, runway 31, 4,999 × 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 81 total · 80 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 97 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CAE, 5 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.