On July 25, 1993, a Cessna 152 (registration N6331M) operated by Lee Brewer was involved in an aviation accident near Oceano, CA. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The student pilot's failure to retract the flaps during a go-around, which resulted in a stall and crash. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive; 8 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
A student pilot bounced during landing with flaps extended, attempted a go-around without retracting them, and stalled the aircraft.
What happened
The aircraft experienced a bounce upon touchdown while the flaps were fully extended. The student pilot responded by applying full power to initiate a go-around but failed to retract the flaps. Consequently, the airplane entered a stall and crashed in a left-wing, nose-down attitude. The student pilot later reported that a gust of wind caused the bounced landing. A commercial pilot witness stated that winds were straight down the runway at approximately 8 knots.
Findings
The failure to retract the flaps during the go-around contributed to the stall. fuel exhaustion is not cited; the primary mechanical factor was the configuration error during the rejected landing attempt.
Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to retract the flaps during a go-around, which resulted in a stall and crash.