During a pleasure flight, the non-certificated pilot attempted twice to land the Cessna 152 at the airport in St. Ignatius, Mont.
On the first attempt, he stated that the approach was too fast and too high, so he performed a go-around.
On the accident landing, the 152 landed farther down the 2,610-foot runway than he anticipated. It did not slow down, and as the end of the runway approached, he applied the brakes.
The airplane veered to the left and right, and then back to the left again, which allowed the right wing to hit the runway. The nose hit a snow berm, and the airplane came to rest inverted, which resulted in substantial damage to the wing and fuselage and one serious injury.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the non-certificated pilot’s failure to maintain a stabilized approach for landing that resulted in a long landing and subsequent runway overrun.
NTSB Identification: WPR14CA075
This December 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Evidently the self proclaimed “pilot” (Mr. Robert Eugene Williams) didn’t learn anything from his mentor, Coulton-Harris (aka “the barefoot bandit”), nor from his flight instructor from whom he received 31.5 hours of dual. C-H never did get the “landing thing” down (pun!) through his Microsoft Flight Sim training or his flight instruction. Assuming C-H even bothered with a log book, he would have accumulated a minimum of 5 solo takeoffs (one for each aircraft he stole that was proven… possibly others not proven) with zero successful solo landings… where the aircraft was re-useable. Actually, Mr. Williams was a slight distance ahead of C-H, but only a slight distance. Mr. Williams invested in some dual time, but alas, was denied a 3rd class medical because of several unresolved issues (kidney stones and heart issues). Not to be denied his right to fly, he decided he would do it anyhow. According to the docket the aircraft was 358 lbs over maximum GTOW, but that’s just another minor detail when you’re ‘born to fly’.. Oh, and the flaps wouldn’t extend to the full down position (just a minor airworthiness issue that he couldn’t be bothered with).