NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI01LA202
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The instructor pilot's inadequate recovery from the bounced landing and inadequate supervision of the dual students alignment with the runway. A factor was the student pilot not maintaining proper alignment with the runway during landing.
Factual narrative
On July 10, 2001, about 1747 central daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N5285E, piloted by a student pilot and certified flight instructor, sustained substantial damage on impact with terrain during a recovery from a bounced landing on runway 1L (6,700 feet by 100 feet, dry asphalt) at DuPage Airport (DPA), West Chicago, Illinois. The instructional flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was on file. The instructor pilot and student pilot were uninjured. The flight departed from Poplar Grove Airport, near Poplar Grove, Illinois, at 1710 and was performing a go around at the time of the accident. The student pilot stated: On final approach, with full flaps and power to idle, the aircraft was pointing to the left of the runway and therefore was not aligned with the runway centerline. The winds were coming from 330 or 340. [The instructor] instructed me to add right rudder therefore I did, but that had little effect on the airplane. We touched down on the runway. The plane was still not aligned with the centerline and we bounced up at which point [the instructor] took control of the aircraft. He added full power and attempted to recover the aircraft. At this point, the nose of the aircraft rose up and the aircraft started to roll toward the right. The wheels hit the ground and our plane flipped forward ending up 15 feet on the side of the runway. The student pilot's report noted that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures. The airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with terrain during a recovery from a bounced landing. The instructor and student pilot were uninjured. The student pilot stated, "We touched down on the runway. The plane was still not aligned with the centerline and we bounced up at which point [the instructor] took control of the aircraft. He added full power and attempted to recover the aircraft. At this point, the nose of the aircraft rose up and the aircraft started to roll toward the right. The wheels hit the ground and our plane flipped forward ending up 15 feet on the side of the runway." The student pilot's report noted that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2001_CHI01LA202.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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