- Date
- May 31, 1996, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Puyallup, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N72344Cessna 140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960531012349A
- Case key
- 42376
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's improper recovery from a bounced landing, and failure to maintain runway alignment during a go-around. The pilot's improper flare for landing was a related factor.
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 pilot reported that during a landing attempt, the airplane bounced hard two times, and she decided to go around. She reported that in the go-around attempt, she retracted the flaps from full down to full up and added power. The aircraft then veered left and crashed in scotch broom to the left of the runway.
Factual narrative
On May 31, 1996, at approximately 1130 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 140, N72344, sustained substantial damage during an attempted go-around after bouncing during landing on runway 16 at Pierce County-Thun Field, Puyallup, Washington. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR 91 flight from Auburn, Washington.
The pilot reported: "...I bounced quite hard, bounced quite hard a second time and decided to go around. I gave full throttle and shot off towards the trees to the side. The next thing I knew, I was in the trees." An FAA inspector who responded to the scene reported that the pilot bounced twice on landing before the aircraft veered left off the runway and went into an area of "scotch broom." The inspector reported that the pilot told her she had retracted the flaps from full down to full up and added power immediately prior to the loss of control. The FAA inspector also reported that the aircraft's carburetor heat control was in the "on" position.
Puyallup runway 16 is 3,650 feet long and 60 feet wide. Winds at McChord Air Force Base, 8 nautical miles west of Thun Field, were reported from 260 degrees magnetic at 4 knots at 1155.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N72344
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 9528
- Airframe hours
- 2,253
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Trudith A. Kong
- Registered owner
- Trudith A. Kong/Donald Connell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 13, 1995 · 64 hours before
- Departed
- S50 · Auburn, WA
- Airport
- 1S0 · Pierce County-Thun Field, runway 16, 3,650 × 60 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 193 total · 30 in this make and model · 132 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 35 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TCM, 8 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.