Skip to content

LAX06LA029

2005-11-08 · Mesa, Arizona, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FFZ

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the failure of the flap motor fuse that rendered the flaps inoperable during a critical phase of flight. Factors in the accident were the lack of suitable terrain to perform an emergency landing and the owner's use of nonapproved fuses for the flap motor circuit.

Factual narrative

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On November 8, 2005, about 1554 mountain standard time, a Cessna 150F, N8903S, made a hard landing in a parking lot near Falcon Field Airport (FFZ), Mesa, Arizona, after the flaps failed to retract during a touch-and-go takeoff. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot undergoing instruction (PUI) sustained minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The local instructional flight departed FFZ about 1530. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The approximate global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the primary wreckage were 33 degrees 27.100 minutes north latitude and 111 degrees 44.500 minutes west longitude. In a written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board, the CFI stated he and the PUI performed a complete preflight inspection and departed to perform various training maneuvers. After completing the various maneuvers, they returned to FFZ and received a clearance to perform touch-and-go maneuvers on runway 22R. The CFI observed the PUI make a "good" approach, landing, and properly initiate the takeoff. After rotation, the airplane pitched up at an unusual attitude and the CFI took the controls. He realized the flaps had not retracted, and the airplane could not climb or turn. They could not return to the runway because the airplane had drifted south of the runway. The CFI recalled that the PUI had experienced an earlier incident with the flaps and had to change the flap fuse during that flight. On this flight, the CFI flew the airplane and the PUI attempted to change the flap fuse in flight. The CFI realized the fuse could not be changed before reaching a baseball field full of people, so he elected to land the airplane in a parking lot. Due to a lack of room for the landing rollout, the CFI intentionally landed the airplane hard. He and the PUI exited the airplane and emergency crews arrived shortly thereafter. The owner/PUI said that the fuse for the flaps failed in August 2005. After he replaced the fuse, he had no other problems with the fuse or the flaps until the accident flight.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The CFI reported that the he held a commercial airline pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane. The pilot held a certified flight instructor (CFI) certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane. The CFI held a second-class medical certificate issued on April 4, 2004. It had the limitation that the pilot must possess corrective glasses. The CFI reported that he had a total flight time of 1,744 hours. He logged 52 hours in the last 90 days, and 24 hours in the last 30 days. He had an estimated 58 hours in the accident make and model. He completed a biennial flight review on September 28, 2005. The PUI held a combined student pilot/medical certificate. He held a third-class medical certificate dated November 7, 2005, with no limitations or waivers. He had accumulated a total of 18 hours in the accident make and model.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

Investigators from the Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, and Cessna Aircraft Company examined the airplane wreckage at Air Transport, Phoenix, Arizona, on November 13, 2005. During the examination, a package of regular fuses was found in the glove compartment of the airplane. The fuse required for the flap motor is a Slo-Blo 15 Amp fuse. The fuses found in the glove compartment were AGC 15 Amp fuses. The flap motor was visually examined and after the fuse was replaced, the flap motor operated the right wing flap in both directions with no abnormalities noted. The airplane landed hard after the flaps failed to retract in the initial climb following a touch-and-go takeoff. The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and the student pilot, who is also the owner of the airplane, performed several maneuvers prior to returning to the airport to practice touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. The student was flying the airplane throughout the entire landing portion of the touch-and-go until rotation. When the airplane rotated, it pitched up steeply and the CFI took control of the airplane. The CFI realized the flaps would not retract and tried to maintain control of the airplane while the student attempted to change the fuse for the flap motor. The CFI noticed obstructions in their flight path and elected to land in a parking lot. Due to the size of the parking lot, the instructor had to make an intentional hard touchdown to avoid colliding with fencing surrounding the lot. The owner had replaced the fuse for the flap motor several weeks prior to the accident. The original fuse was lost during recovery. During post examination of the wreckage a serviceable fuse was installed for the flap motor. The flap motor operated the right wing flap with no abnormalities noted. A package of fuses other than the manufacturer's recommended fuse type was found in the glove compartment of the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2005_LAX06LA029.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers