Castroville Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Castroville, Texas 78009
Thursday, May 29, 2008 14:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was on his second solo flight when the airplane bounced during a hard landing on runway 15. The airplane bounced three times with each bounce harder than the previous bounce. After the third bounce the airplane landed nose gear first, the propeller struck the runway, and the nose gear collapsed. There was substantial damage to the forward firewall. The instructor pilot witnessed the accident and reported the winds as light and variable.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An improper flare during landing. Contributing to the accident was a porpoise induced oscillation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/29/2008
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Castroville
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 78009
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 292018N
Event Location Longitude 0985102W
Event Location Airport CASTROVILLE MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID T89
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 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 Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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) 24038
NTSB Notification Source FAA San Antonio FSDO
NTSB Notification Date May 29 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2008 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office San Antonio FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4789P
NTSB Number DFW08CA162
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 CE-152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15284817
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 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7626
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Laguna Verde Leasing
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2711 Centreville Road
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19808
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Alpha Tango Flying Services Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 9623 West Terminal Drive
Operator City San Antonio
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 78216
Operator Code GL8S
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code T89
Departure City Castroville
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Castroville
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 4 2008 3:04PM
User who most recently changed record GAMW
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 4600
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --