Cessna 152 N5551L

Summary

On 16 July 2018 at about 17:08 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N5551L, operated by American Flight Training, LLC., was involved in an accident near Hollywood, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 July 2018 at 17:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Hollywood, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

North Perry (HWO)

Coordinates

26.0022, -80.2400

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N5551L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

American Flight Training, LLC.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Immokalee → Hollywood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA18CA427

1 person had minor injuries.

The student pilot’s inadvertent encounter with thunderstorm conditions and her failure to maintain a proper landing flare in a crosswind, which resulted in a bounced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The solo student pilot reported that, while landing in a crosswind during thunderstorm activity, she feared that a go-around would put her into the storm. She added that the airplane bounced during the initial touchdown. She then applied "a bit of power" to recover, but the airplane porpoised, and the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount. The director of flight operations for the flight school reported that the student was endorsed for the solo cross-country, that she had received a weather briefing, and that she and her instructor had a briefing and discussion about the airfield and weather before her departure. He added that she was supposed to arrive before the summer storms started, but the storms came early. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation system at the airport reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 140° at 15 knots. The student landed the airplane on runway 10R. The observation further indicated thunderstorm activity and cumulonimbus clouds with occasional lightening in clouds and clouds to ground.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.