N569JH

On March 15, 2000, about 0940 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N569JH, registered to and operated by Aerojet Service Center Inc., crashed on landing at Naples Municipal Airport, Naples, Florida, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage, and the student pilot was not injured. The flight originated the same day, about 0925.

The student pilot stated that he was on his second supervised local solo flight, and after completing practice landings at Immokalee Regional Airport, he returned to Naples. The student pilot further stated that he made the approach with a crab into the wind, but as he descended below the tree line the crab was not necessary. He said that just before touchdown he could not say what happened, but the aircraft skidded off the runway and nosed over.

The FAA inspector who conducted the postcrash examination of the accident airplane stated that witnesses told him that the student pilot was on final approach to runway 05, near touchdown, when he experienced a wind gust between 16 and 25 knots from 010 to 070 degrees. The gust pitched the aircraft up, and it stalled, coming down on the left main gear and left wing tip. The broken left main gear then dragged on the runway, and the aircraft rotated to the left and went into the grass. The side load on the nose gear fractured the nose gear mount and steering bungee. The broken gear then dug into the grass and the airplane vaulted on its back.