Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lowell Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lowell, Michigan 49331
Monday, June 10, 1996 20:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported the airplane made a landing approach with a quartering tailwind. The witnesses said the airplane hit the runway hard and bounced into the air two times. They reported the engine went to full power after the second bounce. The airplane had flown through five trees before colliding with the second story of a home. Shortly after getting the airplane's occupants out of the airplane, there was an explosion in the home. The pilot said he did a go-around as the airplane neared the runway's midpoint. He said he '...focusd on the trees in front of [him] and pulled significantly on [the] yoke trying to make the plane climb.' The pilot said he was not familiar with the terms 'back side of the power curve,' or 'region of reverse command.' The accident pilot's instructor was asked how he taught landings. He said the landing technique comes to the student through flying '...a whole bunch...' with the student. The accident pilot said his private pilot checkride lasted about 35 minutes. His logbook records confirm this. The FAA Designated Pilot Examiner's records showed 1.2 hours spent on a flight test.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
was inadequate initial training of the pilot and inadequate flight test procedures by the FAA Designated Pilot Examiner when he reportedly had the pilot demonstrate 12 pilot operations from the FAA's practical flight test standards in 35 minutes during the pilot's private pilot flight test. A factor in this accident was the pilot's improper landing approach and go-around procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/10/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LOWELL |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49331 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LOWELL MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 24C |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 330 |
| Airport Elevation | 681 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1636 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 794 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 2 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 5 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 991 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 10 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1106F |
| NTSB Number | CHI96LA193 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17254701 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MISSION AV. TRAINING SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1001 E. BELTLINE AVE NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRAND RAPIDS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49505 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 24C |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 24C |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 33 |
| Runway Length | 1931 |
| Runway Width | 80 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |