- Date
- May 6, 2004, 12:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pottstown, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N94577Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 1, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20040506018259A
- Case key
- 59201
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 failure to maintain directional control during landing, and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.
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
While practicing landings in the traffic pattern, during the landing flare, the student pilot noticed he was slightly left of centerline and applied full right rudder to correct. The nose of the airplane then turned sharply to the right, and the flight instructor applied left rudder to straighten it. However, the airplane had already drifted to the left side of the runway, touched down on the edge of the pavement, and the left wing impacted a tractor that was cutting the grass on the side of the runway.
Factual narrative
On May 6, 2004, at 1200 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N94577, was substantially damaged during landing at the Pottstown Limerick Airport (PTW), Pottstown, Pennsylvania. The certified flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the flight instructor, the purpose of the flight was to practice landings with the student pilot. During the landing flare, the student pilot noticed he was slightly left of centerline and applied full right rudder to correct. The nose of the airplane then turned sharply to the right, and the flight instructor applied left rudder to straighten it. However, the airplane had already drifted to the left side of the runway, touched down on the edge of the pavement, and the left wing impacted a tractor that was cutting the grass on the side of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N94577
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285736
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Fare Share Ltd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PTW · Pottstown, PA
- Destination
- PTW · Pottstown, PA
- Airport
- PTW · Pottstown Limerick Airport, runway 10, 3,371 × 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- July 16, 2003
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 432 total · 58 in this make and model · 344 as pilot in command · 94 in the last 90 days · 37 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- PTW
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 N94577 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.