Event ANC12LA031

Factual narrative

On April 21, 2012, about 1630 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 150F airplane, N7911F, sustained substantial damage during takeoff at the Fairbanks International Airport (PAFA), Fairbanks, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight, under 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo student pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on April 21, an FAA inspector at the accident site said that after lifting off, the airplane descended steeply, impacted the runway, and slid off the right side of the runway. He said the nose wheel broke off, and the engine's lower cowl and forward fuselage bottom were crushed upward. The tail of the airplane had broken off at the aft cabin window. The inspector also said that witnesses reported seeing the airplane liftoff from the runway in a steep climb before descending steeply, and impacting the ground. He said the airplane received substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. During an interview with the NTSB IIC on April 24, the pilot said during the takeoff roll the airplane wanted to fly at 40 miles per hour. He said he held forward pressure on the yoke to keep the nose wheel on the ground. At 50 miles per hour he said he let the nose wheel come off the ground, and the airplane rotated into a steep climb. As he tried to push the nose down, the stall warning horn came on, and the airplane dove toward the ground. He said he pulled back on the yoke just before the airplane impacted the ground. He did not reduce engine power. He said he did not remember checking the elevator trim position prior to takeoff. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC on June 4, a student pilot who was the last person to fly the airplane prior to the accident flight, reported that he was with an instructor, and that the flight was uneventful. He said that he had never had any problems associated with the airplane’s controls. His last landing was a simulated engine out. He said he did not think he used full flaps, but he used a good bit of nose-up trim to maintain best angle of glide. He does not routinely return the trim to neutral after a flight. An inspection of the airplane by the NTSB IIC showed the trim was set in almost the full nose up position. The Cessna 150 Owner's Manual states in the before takeoff checklist, item number 7, Trim Tab -- "TAKE-OFF" --setting. No evidence of any preimpact flight control interference was found. The student pilot departed on a solo local area practice flight. He said that during the takeoff roll, he held forward pressure on the yoke to keep the nose wheel on the ground. At 50 mph, he let the nose wheel come off the ground, and the airplane rotated into a steep climb. He tried to push the nose down, but the stall warning horn sounded, and the airplane descended toward the ground. He said he did not reduce engine power, and he did not remember checking the elevator trim position before takeoff. Another student pilot who flew the airplane earlier, reported that he was with an instructor and that his flight was uneventful. He said there were no problems associated with the airplane’s controls. His last landing was a simulated engine out, and he utilized a lot of nose-up trim to maintain the best angle of glide. He said he does not routinely return the trim to neutral after a flight. An inspection of the airplane showed the trim was set close to the full nose-up position. It is likely that the pilot did not check the trim setting during the pretakeoff inspection, which would have been indicated in the pretakeoff checklist. No interference was found with the flight controls. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C
• F Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of checklist-Student pilot - F
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained - C