Cessna 152 N4768Q

Summary

On 8 October 2001 at about 17:12 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N4768Q, operated by Midlands Aviation Corporation, was involved in an accident near Greenville, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were 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

8 October 2001 at 17:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Greenville, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Pitt-Greenville (KPGV)

Coordinates

35.6350, -77.3853

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N4768Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Midlands Aviation Corporation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbia → Greenville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA02LA005

Nobody was injured.

The improper flare by the pilot-in-command resulting in a hard landing and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear due to overload.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that the planned flight duration was 2 hours 45 minutes; approximately 3 hours into the flight he elected to divert to the Pitt-Greenville Airport due to fuel concerns. When near the airport he called on UNICOM which reported that the wind varied from the west/northwest direction at 10 knots. He entered the traffic pattern for runway 02 which was the active runway and elected to land with no flaps extended. He crabbed the airplane into the wind on final approach then when starting to flare, he lowered the left wing and applied right rudder input to align the longitudinal axis of the airplane with the runway. He further stated that the wind shifted suddenly at the time the left main landing gear contacted the runway which made a squealing sound. The right main landing gear then contacted the runway also making a squealing sound. The nose landing gear then touched down and collapsed and the airplane veered to the right coming to rest with the left wingtip contacting the runway. An automated METAR observation taken at 1300 hours local indicates in part that the wind was from 030 degrees at 11 knots with gusts to 14 knots. Post accident examination of the normal brake system revealed no discrepancies. Additionally, the main landing gear tires did not exhibit any evidence of flat spots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.