CHI05LA121
2005-05-21 · Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport D15
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's misjudged distance/speed which led to an overrun and collision with a vehicle. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's delayed remedial action in executing a go-around.
Factual narrative
On May 21, 2005, at 1610 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N66427, collided with a vehicle during an overrun following an attempted aborted landing on runway 11 (2,582 feet by 50 feet, asphalt) at the St. Isabella Airport (D15), Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot on board the airplane were not injured. One occupant of the vehicle received serious injuries and the other occupant was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight originated from D15 about 1600. The CFI stated the purpose of the flight was to practice takeoffs and landings. The accident occurred on the first landing of the flight. The CFI stated they departed and flew the traffic pattern without incident. He stated the landing approach was normal and the student landed the airplane "a couple hundred feet past the displaced threshold." He stated the airplane bounced and he instructed the student to initiate a "go around." He stated the student added full power, turned off the carburetor heat, and gradually retracted the flaps. The CFI stated the airplane was not climbing at a rate sufficient enough to clear the 41 foot tall trees at the end of the runway. The CFI stated he took control of the airplane, retarded the throttle and brought the airplane back to the runway. He stated that once the airplane touched down, he applied heavy braking and the tires locked up. The airplane slid off the end of the runway and onto a road where it contacted a passing car. The student pilot relayed the same events as the CFI, except he stated they initially touched down 50 feet past the displaced threshold. The CFI stated the local winds were clam at the time of the accident. The Airport/Facility Directory shows that runway 11 has a 1,089 foot displaced threshold and that there are trees at both ends of the runway. The airplane collided with a vehicle during an overrun following an attempted aborted landing during a training flight. The accident occurred on the first landing of the flight. The CFI stated the landing approach was normal and the student landed the airplane "a couple hundred feet past the displaced threshold." He stated the airplane bounced and he instructed the student to initiate a "go around." He stated the student added full power, turned off the carburetor heat, and gradually retracted the flaps. The CFI stated the airplane was not climbing at a rate sufficient enough to clear the 41 foot tall trees at the end of the runway. The CFI stated he took control of the airplane, retarded the throttle, and brought the airplane back to the runway. He stated that once the airplane touched down, he applied heavy braking and the tires locked up. The airplane slid off the end of the runway and onto a road where it contacted a passing car. The student stated he touched down 50 feet past the displaced threshold. Winds were clam at the time of the accident. The Airport/Facility Directory shows the total runway length is 2,582 feet with a 1,089 foot displaced threshold and trees at both ends of the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2005_CHI05LA121.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research) Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace) Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes) Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…