Rio Vista Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rio Vista, California 94571
Monday, July 18, 2005 9:10 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot bounced the airplane during touchdown, lost direction control, veered off the runway, and nosed over. During the approach, the pilot realized that the crosswind was very strong, which made control difficult, and he decided to execute a go around. On the second approach attempt, he decreased the airplane's airspeed to approximately 60 knots, and still found the crosswind to be very strong, making the airplane difficult to control. Shortly thereafter, the airplane made contact with the runway and bounced four times. The student pilot lost directional control of the airplane and it veered off the side of the runway onto the grass median and nosed over. During the preflight briefing with his CFI, the instructor told the student pilot to divert to another airport if he could not make the landing into Rio Vista, California. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing and his failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing rollout. A contributing factor was the student's failure to divert to an airport with less severe crosswind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/18/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 910
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Rio Vista
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94571
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381136N
Event Location Longitude 1214213W
Event Location Airport Rio Vista Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O88
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 20
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 855 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SUU
Elevation of weather observation facility 62
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 23
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.82
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) 18627
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 18 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2005 6:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SJC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N68475
NTSB Number LAX05CA238
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 15282311
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name California In Nice Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2575 Robert Fowler Way
Aircraft Owner City San Jose
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95148
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name California In Nice Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 2575 Robert Fowler Way
Operator City San Jose
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95148
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 RHV
Departure City SAN JOSE
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code O88
Destination City RIO VISTA
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 7 2005 4:49PM
User who most recently changed record RICJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 2200
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --