NTSB MIA91LA133 — 1991-05-02 · LAKE WALES, Florida, United States

Aircraft involved

N5829L Cessna 150L None

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF AIRPORT PERSONNEL TO PERFORM AIRPORT MAINTENANCE WHICH RESULTED IN INACCURATE WIND INFORMATION DUE TO A DETERIORATED WINDSOCK, AND FAILURE OF THE STUDENT PILOT TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL DURING THE LANDING ROLL WITH A TAIL WIND. ALSO, INADVERTENT STALL/MUSH BY THE PILOT. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE OF THE STUDENT PILOT AND HIS ATTEMPT TO GO-AROUND AFTER THE LOSS OF CONTROL DURING THE LANDING ROLL.

Factual narrative

DURING THE LAST LEG OF A LONG CROSS-COUNTRY FLT, THE STUDENT PLT ELECTED TO DIVERT TO A NEARBY ARPT TO PERFORM SEVERAL TOUCH-&-GO LANDINGS. HE TRANSMITTED ON THE UNICOM FREQUENCY FOR AN ARPT ADVISORY BUT RECEIVED NO REPLY. HE FLEW OVER THE ARPT AT 1,500 FT TO OBSERVE THE WINDSOCK WHICH INDICATED THAT THE WIND WAS FAVORING RWY 24. HE ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN TO LAND & STATED THAT THE ACFT FLOATED DURING THE FLARE. AFTER TOUCHDOWN THE ACFT VEERED TO THE RT & THE PLT APPLIED POWER TO GO-AROUND. THE ACFT THEN VEERED TO THE LT, TOUCHED DOWN WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE ACFT PERPENDICULAR TO THE RWY CENTERLINE, DURING WHICH THE NOSE LANDING GEAR SEPARATED FROM THE ACFT. THE ACFT THEN CAME TO REST. POSTACCIDENT EXAM OF THE ARPT BY AN FAA INSPECTOR REVEALED THAT THE WINDSOCK WAS IN A TOTAL STATE OF DISREPAIR. IT WAS LATER LEARNED THAT THE PLT LANDED WITH AN APRX 8 KT WIND AT 080 DEGREES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_MIA91LA133.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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