Napa County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Napa, California 94558
Monday, November 28, 2011 15:38 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot stated that this was his fourth solo flight and that he had accumulated about 2 hours of solo flying experience. He flew to a nearby airport for practice touch-and-go landings and takeoffs and was planning a standard rectangular pattern. As he approached the airfield, a tower air traffic controller instructed him to perform a straight-in approach. This was the student pilot’s first attempt at a straight-in landing, and he had difficulty stabilizing the airplane’s flight path before touchdown. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and departed the left side of the runway. The airplane rolled into muddy terrain, bending the nose wheel landing gear mounting structure and the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's improper landing flare, inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, and loss of directional control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/28/2011
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1538
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Napa
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94558
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381232N
Event Location Longitude 1221647W
Event Location Airport Napa County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APC
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 35
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID APC
Elevation of weather observation facility 35
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.22
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) 29517
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 10 2012 2:03PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7952A
NTSB Number WPR12CA049
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 172K
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17258146
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Aug 25 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7363
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name WELCH LAMONT R
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City VACAVILLE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95687
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Stratus Aviation, LLC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Vacaville
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95688
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 VCB
Departure City Vacaville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1525
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code APC
Destination City Napa
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 10 2012 2:11PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 5007
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --