DEN04LA028
2003-12-08 · Bountiful, Utah, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport BTF
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the unqualified person's failure to maintain aircraft control, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing factors include the instructor's inadequate supervision, the instructor's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, and the two parked aircraft.
Factual narrative
On December 8, 2003, at 1200 mountain standard time, a Cessna 150H, N6935S, was substantially damaged when it struck two parked airplanes during landing at Skypark Airport (BTF), Bountiful, Utah. The pilot and passenger on board were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The flight originated from Salt Lake City, Utah, at approximately 1145. The pilot reported that, a non-rated passenger, his wife, was flying the airplane and was attempting to land on runway 34. During the landing, the airplane "bounced twice" before the pilot, also a certified flight instructor, took the controls and applied full power for a go-around. The pilot stated that the airplane bounced a third time, veered to the left, and departed the left side of the runway. The airplane became airborne, crossed over the median between the runway and taxiway, and then touched down on the taxiway. The pilot stated that he attempted to regain control of the airplane, but the airplane continued to roll into the parking area and it struck a Taylorcraft F-21, and a Beech B35. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the Cessna's vertical stabilizer and rudder, substantial damage to the Taylorcraft's empennage and right wing, and substantial damage to the Bonanza's left wing. The pilot did not provide a Pilot Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) for this accident. The pilot reported that, a non-rated passenger, his wife, was flying the airplane and was attempting to land on runway 34. During the landing, the airplane "bounced twice" before the pilot, also a certified flight instructor, took the controls and applied full power for a go-around. The pilot stated that the airplane bounced a third time, veered to the left, and departed the left side of the runway. The airplane became airborne, crossed over the median between the runway and taxiway, and then touched down on the taxiway. The pilot stated that he attempted to regain control of the airplane, but the airplane continued to roll into the parking area and it struck a Taylorcraft F-21, and a Beech B35. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the Cessna's vertical stabilizer and rudder, substantial damage to the Taylorcraft's empennage and right wing, and substantial damage to the Bonanza's left wing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2003_DEN04LA028.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…