Cessna 152 N67421

Summary

On 24 June 1998 at about 00:07 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N67421 was involved in an accident near Santa Ana, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 June 1998 at 00:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Ana, California, United States

Nearest airport

John Wayne Apt/Orange Co. (SNA)

Coordinates

33.7093, -117.8694

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N67421

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98FA210

1 person died.

The failure of the pilot-in-command to identify a proper touchdown point on the runway and maintain an appropriate glidepath so as to remain clear of vortex turbulence from the preceding large aircraft. A factor in the accident was the pilot's failure to initiate a go-around in the known presence of vortex turbulence.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

While the solo student pilot of the Cessna 152 was on downwind leg for landing, the air traffic controller directed the student's attention to a Boeing 757 aircraft that was preceding the student's aircraft for landing on the parallel runway. The threshold of the parallel runway is abeam and 500 feet to the right of the runway the student was to land on. The controller then advised of a 10-knot quartering headwind from the right, issued a wake turbulence precaution, and cleared the student pilot for the landing option. Witnesses reported that as the student pilot was on final approach, descending through approximately 100-foot altitude (agl), the aircraft abruptly rolled inverted and crashed short of the runway threshold. The Safety Board prepared a Study of Wake Turbulence Encounter using data from the Boeing 757's flight data recorder, tower communication tapes, and tower reported surface winds. The report concluded that the Cessna 152 descended into the Boeing 757's wake when the wake was 37 to 41 seconds old. The student's flight instructor told the Safety Board that the student, who had 136 hours of dual instruction and 20 hours of solo flight time, had received instruction in wake turbulence avoidance at three points in ground instruction. Furthermore, the instructor said that training as they had at the air carrier airport, most flights involved wake turbulence avoidance.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.