LAX90LA287

1990-08-11 · COALINGA, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CLG

Aircraft involved

N9551L Cessna 172P None

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE STUDENT PILOT TO ACCURATELY INTERPRET THE WIND SOCK, AND HIS INADVERTENT ATTEMPT TO PERFORM A DOWNWIND LANDING.

Factual narrative

ACCORDING TO GROUND WITNESSES AT THE AIRPORT, THE AIRCRAFT LANDED DOWNWIND ON RUNWAY 19. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO TOUCH DOWN ON THE FIRST THIRD OF THE 4,100 FOOT LONG RUNWAY, TRAVEL THE FULL LENGTH OF THE PAVEMENT, THEN SKID OFF THE DEPARTURE END AND INTO A DITCH. HEAVY SKID MARKS WERE REPORTED ON THE LAST SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET OF THE PAVEMENT. THE STUDENT PILOT STATED THAT HE MISINTERPETED THE WIND SOCK INDICATIONS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_LAX90LA287.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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