Casualties unknown

1990-12-26: Cessna 172N (N5258D) — Cableair — Yucca Valley, CA

Yucca Valley, CA, US

On December 26, 1990, a Cessna 172N (registration N5258D) operated by Cableair was involved in an aviation accident near Yucca Valley, CA. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: THE PILOT'S IMPROPER USE OF THE FLAPS. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE LOSS OF CONTROL DURING TAILWIND LANDING, AND HIS TAILWIND AND THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE INFLIGHT PLANNING. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive; 11 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

Sourcesthe U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archivePrimary reportUpdated 1781061362Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot attempted to contact UNICOM for traffic advisory but failed. Assuming runway 24, he approached the active runway 06. After threshold, stall warning sounded. During go-around, flaps were retracted, then lowered, but the airplane stalled, hit nose gear, and nosed over.

Incident Overview

A pilot preparing to land at an airport attempted to contact the UNICOM frequency on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) to request an airport traffic advisory. The attempt was unsuccessful, as the pilot received no response. Based on this, the pilot assumed that the landing runway in use was Runway 24 and initiated an approach accordingly.

However, the active runway at the time was Runway 06. Surface winds were reported as 030 degrees at 15 knots. As the aircraft flew over the runway threshold, the stall warning horn activated.

Go-Around and Flap Handling

The pilot elected to execute a go-around. During the go-around maneuver, the pilot inadvertently fully retracted the flaps. Realizing the mistake, the pilot then lowered the flaps again. Despite this correction, the airplane entered a stall.

Outcome

The stall resulted in a hard landing on the nose landing gear. Subsequently, the aircraft nosed over onto its back. The source does not specify the aircraft type, registration, engine count, date, operator, location, number of occupants, injuries, or damage items. No further details about weather characterizations or ATC involvement are provided.

No probable cause is stated in the source.

Investigation report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive. Original record: https://carol.ntsb.gov/event/20001212X24776. This page is a structured re-presentation; facts and quotes are in the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), United States.