CESSNA 152

Full Narrative

On February 24, 2016, about 1300 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 152, N152LC, sustained substantial damage when it veered off the runway and nosed over during landing at Pullman/Moscow Regional Airport (PUW), Pullman, Washington. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and tail section. The airplane was registered to and operated by Inter-State Aviation Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that originated from PUW at 1215.

In a written report, the pilot stated that after practicing maneuvers in the local flying area, he returned to PUW and executed a touch and go landing with no incident. During his second landing, about 3 to 5 seconds before touchdown, at about 20 feet above ground level, the stall warning horn sounded briefly. The airplane touched down in a flat, three-point landing attitude. Subsequently the nose gear collapsed and the airplane started to veer to the right. The pilot applied left rudder and left brake; however, the airplane continued to veer off of the runway into mud and nosed over.

The Federal Aviation Administration Inspector examined the airplane and confirmed that the nose gear had collapsed. The nose gear steering rods were removed from the airplane and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory for analysis. The examination of the four pieces of tubes from the nose gear steering rods revealed the fracture faces were mostly on a slant plane and contained features typical of overstress separation with no evidence of pre-existing damage such as corrosion and fatigue cracking. No other evidence of pre-impact mechanical malfunctions was revealed that would have prevented normal operation.