Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 152 near Ione, CA — 2022-08-26

Final reportWPR22LA320
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Date
2022-08-26
Location
Ione, CA, USA
Airport
PRIV
Aircraft
CESSNA 152
Registration
N49430
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s delayed decision to abort the takeoff, which resulted in impact with a fence and a tree. Contributing to the accident was the instructor’s decision to land at the unfamiliar airstrip without determining whether it was within the airplane’s performance capabilities.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident was the instructor’s decision to land at the unfamiliar airstrip without determining whether it was within the airplane’s performance capabilities.

NTSB narrative

During a discovery flight, the passenger asked the instructor if they could land at a private airstrip near his residence. The instructor was not familiar with this particular airstrip, nor had he consulted the airplane’s performance charts to determine if a safe landing and takeoff could be completed, but he still agreed to land. After landing to the west, the instructor turned the airplane around to depart to the east, as the wind appeared calm. He performed a short-field takeoff and observed the engine speed advance as the airplane began to move down the runway. When the airplane was about midfield, the instructor noticed that both his digital and analog airspeed indicators displayed 0 knots. Shortly after making this observation, after the airplane had traveled about 3/4 of the total length of the 1,300-ft-long runway, he decided to abort the landing. The airplane subsequently collided with a fence at the end of the runway and trees beyond the runway edge. A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any preimpact mechanical anomalies with the airframe or engine that could have precluded normal operation. Examination of the pitot/static system did not indicate any failures or blockages. Performance computations indicated that the airplane had the required performance to complete the takeoff from a paved, level runway; however, the departure runway was composed of dirt, which the takeoff performance chart did not account for. Performance charts also indicated that the airplane did not have the distance necessary to stop when the instructor aborted the takeoff to avoid impacting the fence at the end of the runway. Therefore, the instructor’s delayed decision to abort the takeoff resulted in a collision with a fence and a tree. His decision to land at the unfamiliar airstrip without determining whether the airplane’s performance capabilities were adequate to perform a safe takeoff and landing contributed to the accident.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Instructor should have calculated takeoff performance before attempting takeoff.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 9 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents9

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