- Date
- May 2, 1999, 10:40 local (14:40 UTC)
- Place
- Chattanooga, TN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N704RBCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 7, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990502004439A
- Case key
- 46232
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 the flare/touchdown.
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 on the flare for the second full stop landing, the right wing dropped and the airplane yawed to the right. He corrected the roll and yaw with left aileron and left rudder respectively and the airplane began drifting to the right. The student then applied power and the left wing of the airplane contacted the ground followed by the nose section of the airplane.
Factual narrative
On May 2, 1999, about 1040 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N704RB, registered to a private individual, experienced an in-flight loss of control while landing at the Lovell Field Airport, Chattanooga, Tennessee. 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, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries. The flight originated about 1005, from the Lovell Field Airport.
The student pilot stated that he had flown with his certified flight instructor (CFI) earlier, and the CFI got out of the airplane. He departed to perform solo landings and accomplished one full-stop, taxi back landing. The flight departed for the second full-stop landing and while flaring to land, the right wing dropped and the airplane yawed to the right. The student corrected the roll and yaw with left aileron and left rudder respectively and the airplane began drifting to the right. The student then applied power and the left wing of the airplane contacted the ground, followed by the nose section of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N704RB
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078804
- Airframe hours
- 4,660
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Norman J. Presse Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 10, 1998 · 90 hours before
- Departed
- CHA
- Airport
- CHA · Lovell Field Airport, runway 20, 7,401 × 150 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 24 total · 24 in this make and model · 23 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CHA
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 N704RB · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.