N68168

On August 16, 2000, at 1700 central daylight time, a Cessna 152 single-engine airplane, N68168, struck a hangar during a go-around at the Boerne Stage Field Airport near San Antonio, Texas. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot, sole occupant, received minor injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight which departed Giddings, Texas, at 1555, and a flight plan was not filed.

The pilot reported that he was landing the airplane on runway 17, and the landing "seemed quite routine until I found myself several feet above the ground, power off, [air]plane banked to the left. I don't know how I got into this position, but perhaps this is what happened. I had cut the throttle and was lined up for the spot on the runway I wanted to touch down on. I don't think I ever did touch down. Perhaps I flared out too soon and/or too high. Then a gust of wind (shear?) lifted my right wing and I was in a bad bank to the left with my nose up." Attempting to recover, I applied full throttle. I think I was still turning to the left. I tried to miss the hangar east of the runway, but clipped it with my right wing. I plunged, nose down, into the ground." The pilot reported the wind was from 190 degrees at 10 knots.

A witness reported to the FAA inspector, that the airplane flared high, bounced, and turned perpendicular to the runway. Subsequently, the airplane's right wing struck the hangar. The airplane spun around and came to rest on a southeast heading.

The FAA inspector responding to the site found the "throttle wide open." He found thermal damage in the nose area from a post-impact fire. The propeller was found separated from the engine crankshaft. The wings and fuselage were twisted, crushed, and wrinkled. Propeller slash marks were noted along the parallel taxiway and the driveway to the hangar.