The solo student pilot reported that he took off with the intent to remain in the airport traffic pattern in Ramona, Calif., and do touch and go takeoffs and landings.
During the landing on the second circuit, the Cessna 172 ballooned during the flare. When he continued to attempt the landing, the plane ballooned a second time and started to veer to the right.
Following a third balloon, as it veered to the right and touched down, he applied left brake and rudder.
The plane exited the runway to the left and hit a berm and a rock, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the student pilot’s inadequate flare and failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with terrain.
NTSB Identification: WPR14CA122
This February 2014 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.
I was lucky, I learned to fly at San Carlos airport. Just a few miles down the peninsula from SFO. There was almost always a brisk cross wind, with unsettled air just before the threshold. There I learned …
EVERY APPROACH IS A GO AROUND UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE
Flying is mainly an attitude, before and especially after you become proficient.
Sometimes it takes something like this, hopefully without damage to the aircraft or injury, to drive home a lesson. When I had about 250 hours my son and I, also a licensed pilot, were returning to our home airport from a short cross country. When we arrived at the non-towered airport several planes were in the pattern. The first mistake I made was not going to a holding pattern to allow the traffic to clear out, but I entered the pattern. Due to eyeing all the traffic, some without radios, I wasn’t properly keeping track of my air speed and on short final in our 182 noticed I was at 90 knots, and even though I knew better, I touched down anyway. Bounced once, tried to apply some yolk control to settle in but bounced again and running out of runway, 3,400 foot strip, initiated a go around. Good go around with no damage or injuries fortunately, but lesson learned the hard way.
It’s all part of the learning process. Better to have this happen during training than with passengers! I don’t know how much his instructor weighed, but the first time I flew without my instructor the airplane performance was a LOT different. My first solo landing included a balloon, followed by a long float, and finally a touchdown almost half way down the runway. Hopefully the pilot learned from this, and pushed forward with his training to complete his certificate.
If I ever balloon I always apply a bit of power to try and recover, however if the aircraft started to veer to one side or I ballooned again I would execute a go around. There is no shame in a go around, if you the pilot are not happy during any phase of the approach or landing then sometimes it is safer to just go around, just don’t do what I did on my first go around and take the flaps up all at once 🙂