Dry Lake Bed Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Desert Center, California 92257
Thursday, February 3, 2005 13:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane nosed over during an attempted landing on a dry lake bed. During a cross-country instructional flight, the instructor attempted to demonstrate an off airport, soft field landing on a dry lakebed. The instructor had not previously planned to land on the dry lakebed and had no information as to the condition of the landing surface. The landing surface was softer than the instructor anticipated. During the touchdown, the main landing gear sank into the sand, and the airplane nosed over. The instructor stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The instructor's improper decision to land on the dry lakebed without knowing the condition of the landing surface. A factor in the accident was the soft sand surface of the lake bed.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/3/2005
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Desert Center
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92257
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 334435N
Event Location Longitude 1151409W
Event Location Airport Dry Lake Bed
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1356 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID BLH
Elevation of weather observation facility 397
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19749
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Feb 4 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2006 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Riverside, CA FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N472RA
NTSB Number LAX05LA084
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 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17266910
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 63.5
Airframe Hours 6544.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Stang-Air
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Walnut
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91789
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 POC
Departure City La Verne
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PRC
Destination City Prescott
Destination State AZ
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 Mar 27 2006 4:09PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
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 --