IAD05LA091

Factual narrative

On July 3, 2005, about 0930 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N48017, was substantially damaged during takeoff from Concord Municipal Airport (CON), Concord, New Hampshire. The certificated flight instructor, and non-certificated student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight destined for Laconia Municipal Airport (LCI), Laconia, New Hampshire, which was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight instructor stated that the student pilot was attempting to demonstrate the "soft field takeoff," technique on runway 35. The student pilot applied full power, and as the airplane reached 53 knots, he increased the airplane's pitch attitude. The airplane then began to drift to the left, and as the student pilot attempted to correct the drift, the airplane became airborne in a "crossed controlled" condition. The angle of attack reached about 10 degrees nose up, and the right wing then "dropped." The flight instructor attempted to regain control, however, the wingtip and propeller contacted the ground, and the airplane nosed over. A post accident examination of the airplane and accident site by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the wing flaps were in the 10-degree position. Compression damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer was also evident. The right wingtip, propeller spinner, and vertical stabilizer exhibited varying degrees of crush damage, and the nose landing gear was broken. Associated ground scarring, close to the right edge of the runway consistent with a wingtip strike was present. No mechanical deficiencies were noted by the FAA inspector. The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with multiple ratings, including airplane single-engine-land. He reported 940 total hours of flight experience. The student pilot reported 25.1 total hours of flight experience. A weather observation taken at Concord Municipal Airport, about 21 minutes after the accident, included variable winds at 3 knots. During an instructional flight, the student pilot attempted to demonstrate the "soft field takeoff" technique. The airplane drifted left, and as the student pilot attempted to correct for the drift, the airplane became airborne, in a "cross controlled" condition. As the angle of attack reached 10 degrees nose up, the airplane rolled to the right, contacted the ground, and was substantially damaged. Examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical deficiencies. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12