Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
Sunday, January 14, 1996 9:35 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot reported that he was on his first unsupervised solo, and was practicing touch-and-go's. On the first landing he hit hard and began to porpoise. He tried to set an approach attitude after the third bounce, but lost directional control on the ground. The airplane was heading for a row of hangars so he attempted to takeoff, but was unable to clear the hangars. The airplane struck the hangars at the roof line and came to a stop. The student pilot's instructor reported that instruction concerning porpoising had been discussed. The student pilot recalled that he had received instruction about porpoising, but it had not been discussed in detail. He had been told to set an approach attitude, but was uncertain exactly what that meant. Parts of the wheel rim were found on the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot misjudged the flare and performed an improper recovery from a bounced landing. A factor was the inadequate ground instruction concerning recovery from a bounced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/14/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 935
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City CHESTERFIELD
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63005
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 463
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 935 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 1
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 463
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 14 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1219
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:46AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N24311
NTSB Number CHI96LA076
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15280209
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 7 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 76
Airframe Hours 6556
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PHOENIX AVIATION
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. BOX 3007
Aircraft Owner City CHESTERFIELD
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63005
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SUS
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 920
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26R
Runway Length 3800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --