- Date
- January 22, 1995, 12:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Seattle, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6605PCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 18, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950122000699A
- Case key
- 42103
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 misjudging the flare. A factor to the accident was the 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
During a solo instructional flight, the pilot was landing the airplane with a five to ten knot tailwind. The pilot did not flare the airplane before touch down and the airplane landed flat. The nose gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop.
Factual narrative
On January 22, 1995, at 1220 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 152, N6605P, was landed flat and the nose gear collapsed at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local solo instructional flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot was not injured.
The pilot reported that the purpose of the flight was to practice touch and go landings. The pilot stated that the weather was rough and the first attempted landing resulted in a go-around. During the second attempt to land with a tailwind, the airplane's attitude was flat. The pilot stated that when she thought she should flare, she heard a noise and realized that it was the propeller hitting the runway. The nose of the airplane came up, then down and the nose gear collapsed.
The pilot was landing on runway 13L, and the winds were reported from 320 to 330 degrees at five to ten knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6605P
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285037
- Airframe hours
- 7,335
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Galvin Flying Service
- Registered owner
- Galvin Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 29, 1994 · 82 hours before
- Airport
- BFI · Boeing Field, runway 13L, 3,710 × 100 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
- 23
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 72 total · 72 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BFI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.