- Date
- March 9, 1996, 15:21 local (23:21 UTC)
- Place
- Eugene, OR
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8920SCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960309003869A
- Case key
- 42343
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 inadvertent activation of the brakes and his failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in an inadvertent ground swerve.
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, with a total of 14 hours of flight experience, was executing his first solo landing to runway 21 in calm wind conditions. He reported that the aircraft 'turned sharply to the right' during the landing roll and he was unable to regain directional control. The aircraft subsequently departed the runway during which the nose landing gear collapsed and the aircraft nosed over. Wheel skid marks of 283 feet were measured on the runway, and no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft's brakes was found. The student pilot's instructor, who witnessed the accident, postulated that the student inadvertently actuated the brakes during the landing.
Factual narrative
On March 9, 1996, at 1521 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 150F, N8920S, registered to Aerial Communications of America, Inc., a Part 141 flight school, and being flown by a student pilot with approximately 14 hours of total flight time, was substantially damaged during a loss of control and nose over while landing on runway 21 at the Mahlon Sweet Field, Eugene, Oregon. The pilot sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological calm wind conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was to have been the student's first instructional solo operated under 14CFR91, originated from the airport approximately 1518.
An FAA Inspector, who interviewed the pilot subsequent to the accident, reported that the aircraft touched down in the first 700-800 feet of runway 21, and 47 feet right of the centerline. The inspector reported that the student pilot attempted to correct with left rudder during which the right wing lifted. The pilot then added power and the aircraft began to skid left leaving wheel skid marks for 283 feet during which the right wingtip impacted the runway. The aircraft then departed the east side of the runway, the nose wheel partially collapsed, and the aircraft nosed over.
The student pilot reported that his first approach and touchdown to runway 21 was normal but that "then, the plane turned sharply to the right." The student attempted to compensate with power and left rudder during which the aircraft departed the runway.
His instructor, who with other witnesses, observed the accident reported that he was "amazed to watch the aircraft veer out of control following a well-stabilized approach" and postulated that the student pilot "may have positioned his feet high enough on the rudder pedals to actuate the brakes causing his swerve."
There was no reported mechanical malfunction of the aircraft's brakes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8920S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15062220
- Airframe hours
- 1,556
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aerial Communications Of Ameri
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 2, 1996 · 57 hours before
- Departed
- EUG
- Airport
- EUG · Mahlon Sweet Field, runway 21, 5,221 × 150 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
- 17
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14 total · 12 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EUG
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 N8920S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.