Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Summerfield, Florida 34491
Thursday, August 16, 2001 10:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated he was on a cross-country flight in preparation for a checkride that was scheduled for August 20, 2001. The first leg from Kissimmee to Brooksville was uneventful. The flight departed for the second leg and while en route, the cloud base decreased, resulting in his flying at a lower altitude. The flight continued and when it was near the destination, the weather became increasingly worse. The flight encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and he elected to continue flying in IMC due to a thunderstorm that was behind the airplane. He then elected to turn to get out of the IMC conditions but momentarily lost control of the airplane. He recovered from the loss of control and descended to just above the treetops, then elected to get on top of the cloud layer and climbed into IMC conditions. He again descended and reversed course to back track. He was unable to locate landmarks and obtain assistance from air traffic control to his "Pan" calls on 121.5. With a thunderstorm moving from west to east he elected to land in a field and flew downwind, base, and final leg. He landed the airplane in the field but during the landing roll, the airplane collided with a fence collapsing the nose landing gear. He secured the airplane and waited for further assistance. According to the Operations Manager for the operator, examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane touched down in a first field then rolled approximately 1,000 feet before colliding with the barbed wire fence. During recovery of the airplane from the field, each fuel tank had 5+ gallons of fuel; the left wing fuel tank had slightly less fuel when recovered.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The poor in-flight planning decision by the student pilot for his failure to turn around to avoid low ceilings resulting in a precautionary landing in a field. A contributing factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of total experience. A finding in the investigation was the pilot's intentional flight into instrument meteorologiocal conditions (IMC) on 2 separate occasions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/16/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Summerfield
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34491
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 8
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 1035 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KOCF
Elevation of weather observation facility 89
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 26
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
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) 11309
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr-SE
NTSB Notification Date Aug 16 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2002 2:29PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Orlando, FL

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N69120
NTSB Number MIA01LA217
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 15282495
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 23 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 78.3
Airframe Hours 8297.5
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kissimmee Air Center
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4010 4th St.
Aircraft Owner City Kissimmee
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34741
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Orlando Flight Training, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 606 N. Dyer Blvd.
Operator City Kissimmee
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 34741
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 KBKV
Departure City Brooksville
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 855
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KOCF
Destination City Ocala
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 17 2001 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record PREJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --