Imperial County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Imperial, California 92261
Monday, October 25, 2004 17:40 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane veered off the runway during the landing rollout and nosed over. As the student pilot initiated a landing on his first solo flight, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear first, with the nose landing gear following. Shortly after the nose landing gear touched down, the airplane began to veer to the left and continued off the runway surface. The main landing gear impacted soft dirt, and the airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The student pilot stated that after touchdown, he lost focus and could not maintain control of the airplane. The operator reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing rollout, which resulted in the airplane veering off of the runway surface and nosing over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/25/2004
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1740
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Imperial
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92261
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 325003N
Event Location Longitude 1153443W
Event Location Airport Imperial County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IPL
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
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 --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
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) 17183
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 27 2005 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4734B
NTSB Number LAX05CA017
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15283606
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
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 Flight Co. LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Brawley
Aircraft Owner State CA
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code IPL
Departure City Imperial
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code IPL
Destination City Imperial
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --