- Date
- October 4, 2020, 19:15 local (Oct 5, 2020, 02:15 UTC)
- Place
- Rimrock, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N22979Cessna 150
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20201004012239A
- Case key
- 102090
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 landing flare, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing and runway excursion.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during a flight in dark night conditions, and with an unreliable airspeed indicator, he flew the airplane in reference to engine rpm and the vertical speed indicator. Upon reaching his destination airport he activated the airport-controlled lighting, and while preparing to land, and sensing that he was high on final approach, he selected full flaps and reduced power. Upon reaching the runway threshold and feeling that he was at the proper height above the surface, he reduced the power to idle. Then, as he flew past “the numbers” he increased pitch, flared slightly too early and struck the runway surface firmly and too fast. The airplane subsequently bounced, returned to the runway, then veered rapidly to the right and off the side of the runway about 800 ft beyond the threshold before coming to a stop upright. Both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N22979
- Reported as
- Cessna 150 (H)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15058655
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 6,914
- Engine
- Continental Motors O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 13, 2019 · 13 hours before
- Departed
- P52 · Cottonwood, AZ
- Destination
- 48AZ · Rimrock, AZ
- Airport
- 48AZ · Rimrock Airport, runway 5, 2,300 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 84
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,218 total · 209 in this make and model · 2,158 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 87 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- P52, 15 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 30, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 16.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.