St Louis Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alton, Illinois 62010
Friday, October 3, 2008 13:35 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot and flight instructor had conducted four takeoffs and landings during a dual instructional flight prior to the accident flight. The flight instructor stated that the landings "went really well" and he elected to endorse the student pilot for solo flight. The student pilot subsequently took off on his initial solo flight and flew a normal traffic pattern. He noted that the airplane was established at 70 knots on final approach for runway 29 (8,098 feet by 150 feet, dry asphalt). The airplane touched down on centerline; however, after landing it began to drift to the left and he was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane subsequently departed the runway pavement and struck a runway sign before coming to rest. A post accident inspection revealed that the firewall had been damaged. The pilot reported that there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the airplane prior to the accident. Winds were from 270 degrees at 10 knots at the time of the accident, according to the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. A contributing factor was the presence of the sign struck during the runway excursion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/3/2008
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1335
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Alton
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62010
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 385325N
Event Location Longitude 0900246W
Event Location Airport St Louis Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ALN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 544
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID ALN
Elevation of weather observation facility 544
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3000
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
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) 24587
NTSB Notification Source Flight Instructor (Bradley Sar
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 3 2008 1:06PM
User who most recently changed record sort
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5172J
NTSB Number CEN09CA002
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172
Aircraft Series Identifier R
Aircraft Serial Number 17281095
Certified Max Gross Weight 2450
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 30 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3990
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Daw-Air LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City St Louis
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63129
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Langa Air Services
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City East Alton
Operator State IL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 62024
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code ALN
Departure City Alton
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code ALN
Destination City Alton
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 3 2008 12:55PM
User who most recently changed record sort
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 8098
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --