Naples, ME, USA
N3438J
CESSNA 150
For the solo instructional flight, the student pilot had obtained an endorsement from his flight instructor to fly from the departure airport to the destination airport. During the flight, the student pilot decided to make an unauthorized stop and land on a frozen lake to visit a friend. Upon touchdown on the lake, which was covered in a layer of slush and snow, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the engine firewall.
On March 2, 2013, approximately 1045 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150G, N3438J, was substantially damaged during landing on Long Lake in Naples, Maine. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight, which departed Eastern Slopes Regional Airport (IZG), Fryeburg, Maine, and was destined for Limington-Harmon Airport (63B), Limington, Maine. The flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The pilot reported in the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report Form that he was practicing maneuvers at 2,500 feet before descending the airplane to 700 feet over the frozen lake. He applied engine power to climb the airplane back to a higher altitude, but when the engine “would not respond,” the pilot believed there was carburetor ice present, and conducted a forced landing to the lake. During the landing roll, the airplane traveled about 150 feet in a 12-inch-thick layer of snow and slush before the nose landing gear collapsed and bent aft, resulting in substantial damage to the engine firewall. The airplane came to rest approximately 250 yards from the south shore of the lake. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector responded to the accident scene, and spoke with the pilot immediately following the accident. The pilot stated to the inspector that he had intended to land on the lake in order to visit with a friend, and reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane. He further stated that his certificated flight instructor had given him an endorsement for the flight between IZG and 63B, but had not provided an endorsement for landing on the lake. The pilot held a student pilot certificate and reported 45 total hours of flight experience, of which 26 hours were in the accident airplane make and model. The 1054 weather observation at IZG, located approximately 13 miles southwest of the accident site, included winds from 10 degrees at 10 knots, 10 miles visibility, broken clouds at 3,700 feet, temperature 4 degrees C, dew point 4 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 29.62 inches of mercury.
The student pilot’s improper decision to land on a frozen lake.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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