Northumberland Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Shamokin, Pennsylvania 17872
Saturday, May 6, 2006 11:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot of the Cessna 152 was landing on a 3,297-foot-long runway. She reported that when the airplane touched down, it began to porpoise. She was not able to correct the bouncing, and elected to abort the landing. The pilot stated she "panicked" when she observed trees located off the end of the runway, and mistakenly retracted the flaps completely. The airplane climbed slowly, and impacted trees off the left side of the runway. It then nosed over, and impacted the ground. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions, nor did the pilot report any. The pilot reported 140 hours of total flight experience, which included about 120 hours in the same make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to recover from a bounced landing, and her improper use of flaps during an aborted landing, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/6/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Shamokin
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 17872
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 405012N
Event Location Longitude 0763308W
Event Location Airport Northumberland
Event Location Nearest Airport ID N79
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 881
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID SEG
Elevation of weather observation facility 450
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 9000
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.78
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20218
NTSB Notification Source EROC
NTSB Notification Date May 8 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 29 2006 3:49PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Harrisburg

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4732Q
NTSB Number NYC06CA109
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15285055
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 Apr 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6825
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lanes Valley Forge Aviation
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Collegeville
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19426
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code N10
Departure City Collegeville
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code N79
Destination City Shamokin
Destination State PA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - aborted
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 8 2006 6:34PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 3297
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --