SEA96LA084

Factual narrative

On April 26, 1996, approximately 2115 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 152, N24316, operated by Great Western Aviation of Salt Lake City, Utah, nosed down during landing at Bolinder Field-Tooele Valley Airport, Erda, Utah. The aircraft was substantially damaged but the private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane had departed Salt Lake City International Airport for Tooele Valley on an instructional night solo practice flight as part of a 14 CFR 141 instrument/commercial pilot training course syllabus. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was conducted under 14 CFR 91, and no flight plan had been filed. In a written statement to the FAA on-scene investigator, the pilot reported that he was performing the sixth in a series of ten full-stop landings to runway 34 at Tooele Valley (5,500 by 75 feet, asphalt, elevation 4,316 feet) and was in a 30-degree "full flap" configuration. He stated: "I came in[,] touched down[,] then flared off the runway[.] I decided to do a go around. I started the go around procedure then the next thing I knew I was nose down in the dirt." He stated that the airplane came to rest about 1,100 feet from the approach end of runway 34, to the left of the runway. He reported the flight conditions as night, clear and dry, 25 miles visibility, and "little to calm winds." He reported that the runway lights and airport beacon were "on and completely operational", and stated in a telephone interview that the aircraft's landing light was on at the time. According to the U.S. Government Airport/Facility Directory, Tooele Valley runway 34 is equipped with pilot-controlled medium-intensity runway lights and a 2-box visual approach slope indicator (VASI). The pilot also indicated in his written statement that his flight instructor had conducted a complete preflight briefing with him prior to the accident flight. A solar and lunar event prediction computer program used by the investigator indicated that sunset at Tooele Valley airport occurred at 2021 on the evening of the accident, that evening twilight ended there at 2126 that evening, and that there was 65 percent moon illumination there (with full moon being 100%) between end of evening twilight and moonset at 0320. The pilot reported that he had 86.2 hours of total pilot time at the time of the accident Great Western Aviation did not furnish any information regarding the aircraft's inspection history or aircraft flight hours on its operator's report of the accident (NTSB Form 6120.1/2). There were no reports of any mechanical problems with the aircraft being suspected or discovered by the pilot, the operator, or the FAA on-scene investigator. The pilot stated that while attempting a night landing, he 'came in, touched down then flared off the runway.' He stated that he started to attempt a go-around but 'the next thing I knew I was nose down in the dirt', approximately 1,100 feet beyond the approach end of the runway and to the left of the runway. The pilot reported that he had 86.2 hours of total pilot time at the time of the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12