Clewiston Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Clewiston, Florida 33440
Thursday, February 19, 2004 14:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was on his first solo cross country flight. He reported that during the landing flare at his destination airport, he thought he was too high, and pushed the control wheel forward to compensate. The airplane's nose wheel subsequently contacted the runway hard, and the nose wheel landing gear collapsed. The airplane slid off the runway, encountered a ditch, and nosed over. The student pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's misjudged landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing, a collapse of the nose wheel landing gear, and the airplane nosing over when it encountered a ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/19/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Clewiston
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33440
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 263535N
Event Location Longitude 0800506W
Event Location Airport CLEWISTON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID X53
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 25
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 15969
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Feb 19 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2004 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Miami

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N124ER
NTSB Number ANC04LA028
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 172P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17276531
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 9 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8356
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name German J. Mejia
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Boca Raton
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 LNA
Departure City WEST PALM BEACH
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 21S
Destination City Clewiston
Destination State FL
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 Jun 24 2004 2:27PM
User who most recently changed record PETL
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 13
Runway Length 5950
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --