- Date
- August 28, 1993, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cortland, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N63626Cessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930828036449A
- Case key
- 38654
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 recovery from a bounced landing, resulting in a hard landing and collapse of the nose gear. A factor was the student pilot's inexperience.
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 conducting his second solo flight. He stated that during the landing flare, the 'roundout [was] too high...aircraft bounced...aircraft bounced again...lowered nose to maintain level attitude...nose wheel made contact with runway too hard and collapsed.'
Factual narrative
On Saturday, August 28, 1993, at 1930 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N63626, registered to Cortland Aviation, Inc., and piloted by Joseph F. Carothers, Jr., sustained substantial damage during a landing at the Cortland County Chase Field, Cortland, New York. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.
This was the student pilot's second solo flight. He was conducting a touch and go landing. During the approach, he lowered the wing flaps to 20 degrees. In his report, the pilot stated:
Aligned aircraft with runway centerline and aim point. Airspeed 75 MPH. Closed throttle to idle before threshold. Roundout too high- allowed aircraft to settle on runway. Aircraft bounced - control maintained - aircraft bounced again and ballooned - lowered nose to maintain level attitude. Nose wheel made contact with runway too hard and collapsed.
The engine fire wall was buckled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N63626
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15077439
- Airframe hours
- 5,581
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Cortland Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 9, 1992 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- N03
- Destination
- N03
- Airport
- N03 · Cortland County Airport, runway 6, 3,400 × 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12 total · 12 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.