Columbia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Columbia, California 95310
Saturday, September 13, 2008 15:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight and was landing at his planned destination. During the landing flare, he added engine power to help arrest the rate of descent, but after making a smooth successful touchdown, he forgot to reduce the engine power back to idle. With significantly greater than idle power being produced by the engine, the pilot lost directional control during his attempt to slow the airplane. The airplane veered off the runway and impacted a wall of boulders that had been erected as a barrier.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's improper use of the throttle control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/13/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Columbia
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95310
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 380154N
Event Location Longitude 1202454W
Event Location Airport Columbia Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O22
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
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) 24535
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2008 2:10PM
User who most recently changed record lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N24342
NTSB Number SEA08CA198
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 15280227
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
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 Flying Vikings
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Hayward
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Flying Vikings
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Hayward
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 KHWD
Departure City Hayward
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code O22
Destination City Columbia
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2008 5:36PM
User who most recently changed record ricj
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 35
Runway Length 4670
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --