Cessna 152 N68714

Summary

On 3 February 2005 at about 21:00 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N68714 was involved in an accident near Sturtevant, Wisconsin, 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

3 February 2005 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Sturtevant, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Sylvania (C89)

Coordinates

42.7033, -87.9589

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N68714

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Janesville → Waukegan

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05LA067

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to identify the electrical system failure and to maintain adequate airspeed during the landing approach. Factors associated with the accident were the electrical system failure, the snow covered terrain, and the pilot's lack of experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane experienced a nose gear collapse during a precautionary landing in a corn field. The student pilot stated that her radios became inoperative during the second leg of the solo cross country flight. She elected to bypass the airport she intended on landing at to return to her home airport. During the flight to her home airport, the pilot noticed that the fuel gauges were indicating empty. She stated the airplane was topped off at her last departure point so she should have had plenty of fuel, but she thought the airplane was possibly leaking fuel so she decided to land at a nearby airport. The pilot stated she lowered the flaps while in the traffic pattern, but she doesn't remember the flaps extending. She stated that as she tried to turn onto final approach, the airplane would not bank and the controls felt sluggish. The pilot stated she knew she was not going to make it to the runway so she located a field in which to land. The pilot stated she reduced the power to idle at which time the stall warning sounded so she lowered the nose of the airplane. She stated the field had a slight rise so she held the airplane off the ground as long as possible. The nose gear contacted snow during the landing and the nose gear collapsed. Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed corrosion was present at the wiring connectors on the master switch. The fuel gauges, radios, and flaps, are electrically actuated components. The flight controls were inspected and control continuity was established.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.