Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sturtevant, Wisconsin 53177
Wednesday, December 27, 2000 7:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane nosed over during a precautionary landing to a snow covered field. The student-pilot said that the flight had begun as a dual instructional flight and then a solo flight. The pilot said that the weather during the dual instructional flight was overcast with light snow. The pilot said that, during the solo flight, the snowfall was getting heavier and that he decided to return to the airport. He said, "Before I made the initial turn to base I noticed my airspeed was only 50 KIAS. This was after I put carb heat on, throttle back to 1500 RPM, nose up to 60 KIAS and flaps to 10 [degrees]. Concerned that my airspeed was not high enough to make the left hand turn, I decided to make a right hand turn to circle around again and increase my airspeed. I kept trying to increase the airspeed with no success, by lowering the nose. I ended up by I-94 and Hwy 11. On my route there I tried radioing the airport but could not hear the instructor. Once I could he said to land at [an airport], which I didn't know where it was. All this time the airspeed kept dropping and I was concerned about a stall. The airspeed became so low (30-35 KIAS) I decided to land in a field.... I believe this was a hayfield and was snow covered [approximately] 10-14 inches. ... When the wheels touched ground it went for a short distance and flipped over nose first." The pilot said that after the accident, his instructor came to the accident site and told him that the pitot tube was, "plugged up." The pilot said that two days after the accident his flight instructor asked him to complete his pre-solo written examination. The student-pilot provided a copy of the cover page for the written examination dated "1/2/01". A weather report for a reporting station located about 7 miles and 060 degrees from the accident site was reporting, at 0753; winds 290 degrees at 07 knots; visibility 4 statute miles; light snow; ceiling 2600 feet overcast; altimeter setting 30.28 inches of Mercury. A weather report for a reporting station located about 7 miles and 170 degrees from the accident site was reporting, at 0810; winds 310 degrees at 08 knots; visibility 2 statute miles; light snow; scattered clouds at 2200 feet; ceiling 2600 feet overcast; altimeter setting 30.27 inches of Mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unsuitable terrain for landing selected by the student pilot, the inadequate initial training by the flight instructor, and the flight instructor's decision to send the student pilot on a solo flight in known adverse weather conditions. Factors to the accident were the snow showers, the student pilot becoming lost, the student pilot not using the pitot heat, the snow covered terrain, the precautionary landing performed by the student pilot, and the student pilot's lack of experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 750 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Sturtevant |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53177 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 674 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11638 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 27 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1346 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 21 2002 10:26AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N757DX |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA054 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15279667 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM GENSLER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3935 N. BAY DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | RACINE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53402 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | RAC |
| Departure City | RACINE |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| 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? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2002 8:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |