- Date
- April 18, 2002, 14:20 local (18:20 UTC)
- Place
- Matawan, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4737LCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 10, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Teterboro, NJ
- FAA report
- 20020418018329A
- Case key
- 54552
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 pilot's inadequate weather evaluation, and excessive airspeed while landing. A factor was a tailwind.
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 landing on runway 09, a 2,156-foot long, 50-foot wide asphalt runway. His approach was fast and with a tailwind. The airplane landed about half way down the runway, and the student pilot was unable to stop the airplane before it overran the runway. The student pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane, and the reported wind at an airport about 22 nautical miles north of the accident site was variable at 5 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 18, 2002, about 1420 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N4737L, was substantially damaged while landing at Marlboro Airport (2N8), Matawan, New Jersey. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the solo instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot stated that he departed 2N8 about 1245 for a local flight. About 1420, he returned to the airport, and landed on runway 09, a 2,156-foot long, 50-foot wide, asphalt runway. The student pilot added that he was "fast" on final approach, and the airplane touched down about half-way down the runway, with a tailwind. The student pilot was unable to stop the airplane before it overran the runway, and it came to rest inverted in a field adjacent to the airport.
The student pilot further stated that although the wind was calm minutes before his approach, he landed with an approximate 10-knot tailwind. He reported a total flight experience of 65 hours, and did not report any mechanical difficulties with the airplane.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the upper surface of the wings, ribs, and the center fuselage.
The reported wind at an airport approximately 22 miles north of the accident site, at 1451, was variable at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4737L
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284228
- Airframe hours
- 8,278
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 3, 2001 · 121 hours before
- Departed
- 2N8 · Matawan, NJ
- Destination
- 2N8 · Matawan, NJ
- Airport
- 2N8 · Marlboro Airport, runway 09, 2,156 × 50 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 65 total · 65 in this make and model · 65 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EWR, 22 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 27, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 469 KB in all.
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 N4737L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.