- Date
- July 16, 2004, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- La Center, WA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N18542Cessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Portland, OR
- FAA report
- 20040716014009A
- Case key
- 59808
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 private pilot receiving the flight review's failure to follow the Owner’s Manual's procedures for a go-around. Contributing factors were the flight instructor's delay in telling the private pilot to go-around, and the trees.
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 flight instructor was giving a private pilot a flight review. He said that the private pilot had set up the landing and had lowered the flaps to the full down position. The flight instructor reported that they were high and long for a landing. He told the private pilot to abort the landing. The private pilot first raised the flaps, and the airplane "immediately" mushed to a lower altitude. The flight instructor said that he applied full power and put the carburetor heat in [off]. He took control of the airplane and attempted to continue flight. The airplane struck some trees and impacted the ground. The private pilot receiving the flight review said that he thought he put the power in first and then put the carburetor heat in [off]. He had an estimated 200 hours of flight experience, and he said that he flies approximately 5 to 10 hours per year. The Owner's Manual states that a go-around is performed by: 1. Throttle -- Full "Open." 2. Carburetor Heat -- Cold. 3. Wing Flaps -- Retract to 20 degrees. 4. Upon reaching an airspeed of approximately 65 MPH, retract flaps slowly.
Factual narrative
On July 16, 2004, at approximately 1100 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150L, N18542, was substantially damaged when it struck trees and impacted the ground at Daybreak Airport, near La Center, Washington. The flight instructor and private pilot received minor injuries. Aero Maintenance Inc., of Vancouver, Washington was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country instructional flight that originated from Vancouver, Washington, approximately 1 hour before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed for the local flight.
The flight instructor said that he was giving the private pilot a flight review. They had done some air work and he had asked the private pilot to perform a full-stop landing at Daybreak Airport (runway 13, 2,200 feet long). He said that the private pilot had set up the landing and had lowered the flaps to the full down position. The flight instructor said that "it was apparent that we were high and long for the landing." He told the private pilot to abort the landing. The private pilot first raised the flaps, and the airplane "immediately" mushed to a lower altitude. The flight instructor said that he applied full power and put the carburetor heat in [off]. He took control of the airplane and attempted to continue flight. The airplane struck some trees and impacted the ground.
The private pilot receiving the flight review said, in a telephone interview, that he thought he put the power in first and then put the carburetor heat in [off]. He had an estimated 200 hours of flight experience, and he said that he flies approximately 5 to 10 hours per year. The airplane manufacturer's Owner's Manual states that a go-around is performed by:
1. Throttle -- Full "OPEN."
2. Carburetor Heat -- Cold.
3. Wing Flaps -- Retract to 20 degrees.
4. Upon reaching an airspeed of approximately 65 MPH, retract flaps slowly.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18542
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15073930
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aero Maintenance Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2004
- Departed
- VUO · Vancouver, WA
- Destination
- WA46 · Daybreak Apt, WA
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
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 200 total · 200 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- October 18, 2002
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,848 total · 580 in this make and model · 1,764 as pilot in command · 62 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- PDX, 30 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.