Cessna 152 crash at Uetersen/Heist airfield

Incident Overview and Flight Details On 18 March 2010, a Cessna 152 operated by a flight school crashed at the Verkehrslandeplatz Uetersen/Heist (EDHE) in Germany. The aircraft was conducting a one-hour training flight with a pilot in the left seat and a flight instructor in the right seat. The flight began at 18:00 local time from runway 09. The pilot reported completing two circuit patterns, steep turns, near-stall maneuvers, and VOR approaches. The aircraft then began approaches for landing exercises without engine power. ## Sequence of Events During the first approach, the pilot flew a wide right turn to align with runway 09, reaching the extended centerline at approximately 500 feet. The instructor noted the aircraft was too close to the runway. The landing was made well behind the threshold. After a go-around and climb, the pilot began a second approach. At approximately 400 feet, the aircraft was on the extended centerline with the runway and threshold in sight. The instructor took control of the aircraft to demonstrate how to handle the situation, using alternating control inputs and bank angles to lose altitude. The pilot asked the instructor to stop. As the instructor attempted to re-align the aircraft for landing, the aircraft pitched down and struck the runway near the threshold at 18:50 local time from a low altitude. ## Personnel and Aircraft The 39-year-old pilot held a private pilot license and had a total of 192 flight hours, including 101 hours on the Cessna 152. The 43-year-old flight instructor held a private pilot license with instructor ratings and had 833 total flight hours, including approximately 150 hours on the Cessna 152. The aircraft was a two-seat, high-wing, metal construction Cessna 152 with a total airframe time of 4,941 hours. ## Meteorological and Airport Conditions Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. A METAR from Hamburg-Finkenwerder (EDHI), approximately 15 km away, at 18:20 local time reported wind from 210° at 5 knots, clear skies, visibility greater than 10 km, temperature 12°C, dew point 7°C, and pressure 1,017 hPa. Sunset occurred at 18:32 local time. The airfield has a 1,100 m by 40 m grass runway oriented 089°/269° (09/27). The air traffic control tower was staffed, but operations had ceased due to sunset except for the accident aircraft. ## Damage and Investigation The aircraft struck the runway near the threshold of runway 09. The initial ground contact involved the nose, engine, propeller area, and the left outer wing, which broke at the root. Both wings were deformed in the outer sections, and the wingtip caps were torn off. The nose gear was broken off, and the fuselage was crushed in multiple places in the cabin area. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The investigation was conducted by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) under case number BFU 3X020-10 and was closed summarily with a factual presentation only.