Cessna 152 N152TM

Summary

On 26 April 1997 at about 19:30 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N152TM was involved in an accident near Ilwaco, Washington, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 April 1997 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Ilwaco, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Ilwaco Landing Strip (WA27)

Coordinates

46.3107, -123.9902

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N152TM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hillsboro → Everett

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97LA092

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to land the aircraft at the proper touchdown point. Factors include inadequate preflight planning/preparation by the student pilot, inadequate supervision by the student pilot's flight instructor, rain, fog, strong crosswinds, a wet runway, and soft terrain off the end of the runway,

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot departed on a solo cross-country flight during which deteriorating weather was forecast along the route. After the first leg of the flight, the pilot rested and did some additional flight planning, and then departed on the return leg. After departing an intermediate stop on the return leg of the flight, the pilot encountered rain, low clouds and high winds. He then elected to return to the airport where he had made the intermediate stop, but upon returning to that area, he found that he was unable to see the airport through the rain and clouds. While trying to fly to another airport, he happened to overfly a 2,000 foot runway, and elected to attempt a landing there. While on final approach to land, the rain, clouds, and crosswinds were significant enough that the pilot was having a hard time seeing the runway. He ultimately touched down past the mid-point of the runway, and the aircraft skidded off the end before he was able to get it stopped. When it departed the runway, the nose gear encountered soft terrain and was torn from the aircraft. It was later determined that the student's instructor did not monitor the preflight weather briefing and that the student did not get an updated weather briefing after his initial departure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.