MIA00LA016

Factual narrative

On October 28, 1999, about 1730 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N5389Q, registered to New Horizon Aviation, impacted with the ground during a landing at the Habersham County Airport, Cornelia, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 solo cross-country instructional flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight had departed from Greenville, South Carolina, en route to Cornelia, Georgia, at 1630. The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight, and according to her CFI (certified flight instructor) she was qualified to conduct the flight and had been endorsed by the CFI. While attempting to land at the destination airport the airplane began to porpoise. The airplane then descended in a nose-low attitude striking the runway, and breaking off the nose gear. The airplane continued to skid down the runway, departed the runway to the left, then returned to the runway, coming to rest near the centerline. According to the student pilot's CFI, "...upon the attempt to land...the student pilot over controlled the aircraft causing the airplane to porpoise or create a pilot induced oscillation (POI). The aircraft continued its PIO until it descended in an extreme nose low attitude with sufficent force to break the nose wheel allowing for the...propeller to contact the ground, at about 1,500 feet down the runway." At the time of the accident the pilot had a total of 67.8 flight hours. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or engine. The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight, and upon landing at the destination airport the student pilot over controlled the airplane and it began to porpoise. The airplane then descended in a nose-low attitude until the propeller struck the runway, causing the nose gear to break off. The airplane continued to skid down the runway, departed the runway to the left, then returned to the runway, coming to rest near the centerline. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or engine. At the time of the accident the pilot had a total of 67.8 flight hours. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12