ORANGEBURG, SC, USA
N64936
Cessna 152
While practicing night landings for currency, the airplane touched down then bounced. The pilot then applied forward elevator input and the airplane touched down and bounced again. The power remained at idle and the airplane then stalled and impacted the runway nose low causing the nose landing gear to collapse. The pilot stated that he was not concentrating on the accident landing but thinking about the next landing and was in a rush to complete the landings. He further stated that he should have applied power to go-around after the airplane bounced the first time.
On June 20, 1997, about 2230 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N64936, registered to a private individual, leased to Ferland, Inc., dba Mac Air, experienced a loss of control while landing at the Orangeburg Municipal Airport, Orangeburg, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 5 minutes earlier from the Orangeburg Airport. The pilot stated that the purpose of the flight was for night currency. After takeoff during the first landing, the airplane touched down then bounced. He then pushed on the control column and the airplane then bounced again. He applied nose-up elevator input but the throttle remained at idle and the airplane then stalled and landed on the nose landing gear causing it to collapse. He further stated that he was in a hurry to complete the planned three full-stop landings then go home and there was no airframe or engine preimpact failure or malfunction. He also stated that he was thinking about the next landing and not concentrating on the accident landing. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed that his last night flight occurred on January 6, 1997, in which he flew .2 hour and performed two landings in a Cessna 150 airplane.
Failure of the pilot to recover from the bounced landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilots complacency.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
Aviation Accidents App
In-Depth Access to Aviation Accident Reports
