- Date
- October 31, 1998, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Winter Haven, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6679FCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981031031059A
- Case key
- 45174
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 landing flare resulting in a hard landing and ground loop.
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 performing the second landing of his first supervised solo flight. During landing he flared high and the aircraft landed hard. The aircraft bounced into the air, landed hard again, and then ground looped.
Factual narrative
On October 31, 1998, about 1115 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150F, N6679F, registered to Tom McGee Aircraft, Inc., crashed during landing at Gilbert Field, Winter Haven, Florida, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the student-rated pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Winter Haven, Florida, the same day, about 1100.
The pilot stated he was performing his first solo flight under the supervision of his flight instructor. He had performed one landing and was making his second landing. As he flared for landing the aircraft ballooned and floated. The left wing then dropped and the aircraft descended and impacted the runway on the left main landing gear. The aircraft then bounced and impacted the runway with the left wing and left main landing gear. The aircraft then spun around and came to rest.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6679F
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15063279
- Airframe hours
- 5,403
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tom Mcgee Aircraft, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 9, 1998 · 95 hours before
- Departed
- GIF
- Airport
- GIF · Winter Haven Municipal, runway 4, 5,006 × 100 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
- 53
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 28 total · 28 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GIF, 1 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.
Other investigations on N6679F · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.