Gillespie Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

El Cajon, California 92020
Tuesady, September 17, 2002 15:39 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane touched down hard in a nose low attitude buckling the firewall and collapsing the nose gear assembly. The pilot said the accident occurred while he was attempting to land at the conclusion of his practice flight and that he "flared too high," and then the airplane's nose dropped. The airplane contacted the runway and bounced several times before coming to rest. No preimpact mechanical problems were experienced with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudged landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/17/2002
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1539
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City El Cajon
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92020
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324934N
Event Location Longitude 1165821W
Event Location Airport Gillespie Field
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SEE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.2
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 387
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 339 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID KSEE
Elevation of weather observation facility 387
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.81
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) 16351
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 17 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1608
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAN-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5100B
NTSB Number LAX02LA289
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15283742
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 Aug 10 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 80
Airframe Hours 11203
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Christopher Watson
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City El Cajon
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92020
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Anglo American Aviation, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code SEE
Departure City El Cajon
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SEE
Destination City El Cajon
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 2 2004 3:58PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27L
Runway Length 2737
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --