CHI00LA140

Factual narrative

On May 22, 2000, at 1350 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N68182, owned and operated by Goshen Air Center, Inc., piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during an attempted touch and go on runway 27 (5,001 feet by 75 feet, dry asphalt) at the Goshen Municipal Airport, Goshen, Indiana. The aircraft collided with a runway light, the ground, and subsequently nosed over following a loss of directional control. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The solo/instructional flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The student pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The local flight departed Goshen Municipal Airport, Goshen, Indiana, at 1345. According to the instructor's written statement, "I told my student to fly solo. He was told before I got out of the airplane to do full stop landings. He proceeded to takeoff and had a great pattern and landing. Once he was on the ground I told him over a portable radio to come in and back taxi for another takeoff. At the same time I heard the power was being applied for a touch and go." According to the student pilot's written statement, "I had perfectly good control of the airplane on crosswind, downwind, base, final and landing. I put in full power then wind started to blow from the right and I started to move to the left because of wind and p factor. I stomped on right rudder to correct for the problem and the plane started to skip so I let go and then it turned left in to grass. It was fine until I hit a ramp in the grass and launched the plane up, but it did not have enough airspeed to take off, so the plane went down and hit on the nose and flipped it. I should have pulled power but I panicked." According to the student's logbook, the accident happened on the first landing on the student's first solo flight. During a first solo flight, the student pilot lost directional control of the aircraft, hit a runway light, and nosed over during an attempted touch and go. The student pilot described the accident as, 'I put in full power then wind started to blow from the right and I started to move to the left because of wind and p factor. I stomped on right rudder to correct for the problem and the plane started to skip so I let go and then it turned left in to grass. It was fine until I hit a ramp in the grass and launched the plane up, but it did not have enough airspeed to take off, so the plane went down and hit on the nose and flipped it. I should have pulled power but I panicked.' Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12