Cherry Capital Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Traverse City, Michigan 49684
Wednesday, January 8, 2003 15:56 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane bounced upon the third landing attempt, and the nose landing gear collapsed. The student pilot reported he misjudged the flare. After the bounce, he improperly pushed the yoke forward in an attempt to get the airplane landed. The weather reports show that during the previous hour, the wind speed increased from 8 knots to 12 knots gusting to 18 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's improper rerecovery from a bounced landing and his improper flare. Factors were the gusting crosswinds, the misjudged flare and the collapse of the nose landing gear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/8/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1556
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Traverse City
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49684
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 444429N
Event Location Longitude 0853456W
Event Location Airport Cherry Capital Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TVC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 624
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TVC
Elevation of weather observation facility 624
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 14000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KTVC 081753Z 20008KT 10SM FEW030 SCT150 BKN2
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) 13932
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 8 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1700
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Grand Rapids, Michigan

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N757LE
NTSB Number CHI03LA050
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 15279818
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 Oct 24 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 41.4
Airframe Hours 11563.6
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Northwestern Michigan College
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1701 E Front St.
Aircraft Owner City Traverse City
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49684
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code TVC
Departure City Traverse City
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone EST
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 Jul 30 2003 3:39PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 5107
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --