Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
Wednesday, April 12, 2000 19:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported the accident occurred on the fourth touch and go of the flight. The pilot reported that she pulled the power to idle when the airplane was over the runway. The airplane touched down and porpoised. She reported the airplane porpoised three times prior to coming to rest on the runway. The pilot stated that she was unaware that the nose tire was flat and she initiated another takeoff. She stated that after becoming airborne she noticed a shimmer and the airplane had a tendency to veer to the left. She aborted the takeoff and stopped the airplane on the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot misjudged the landing flare which resulted in the airplane porpoising on the runway during the landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/12/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1900
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CHESTERFIELD
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63005
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
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 460
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1854 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 460
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
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) 30
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) 446
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 20 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 834
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record May 25 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5909E
NTSB Number CHI00LA117
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 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier 172N
Aircraft Serial Number 17271958
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 7 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 7972
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name THUNDER AVIATION ACQUISITION
Aircraft Owner Street Address SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS AIRPORT
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SUS
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code SUS
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 25 2001 4:09AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8L
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --