Rockwall Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rockwall, Texas 75087
Thursday, October 2, 1997 10:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The operator reported that the 63-hour student pilot was endorsed for a solo round-robin flight from the Rockwall Municipal Airport, to Mesquite, Texas, where she was cleared to practice takeoffs and landings. On her return flight to the Rockwall Airport, the student pilot lost control of the airplane during her landing roll on runway 16 after she 'got too low on final approach and she encountered turbulence from the hangars located at the northwest corner of the airport.' After losing control, the student pilot applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing. She added that the airplane managed to get airborne at 40 to 50 knots; however, the main landing gear impacted the airport's perimeter fence with the landing gear and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the inverted position.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and her failure to maintain directional control during the aborted landing. Factors were the wind gust and the turbulence.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/2/1997
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1045
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ROCKWALL
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75087
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ROCKWALL MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID F46
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 574
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1281
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 16 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 950
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:37PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4957A
NTSB Number FTW98LA017
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model A152
Aircraft Series Identifier A152
Aircraft Serial Number A1520915
Certified Max Gross Weight 1675
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 Sep 20 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 7850
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILBURN G. GRIFFIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3304 DERBY CIRCLE
Aircraft Owner City BEDFORD
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76021
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 No
Departure Airport Code HQZ
Departure City MESQUITE
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1020
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code F46
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 16
Runway Length 3371
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --