SEA97LA066

Factual narrative

On February 25, 1997, at 1608 Pacific standard time, N48965, a Cessna 152, operated by Walla Walla College, nosed over during landing rollout at Martin Field in College Place, Washington, and was substantially damaged. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The instructional flight departed from Walla Walla about 1530 and was conducted under 14 CFR 91. According to the CFI: My student and I came onto final at Martin Field, a little high. We slipped the plane down to the runway and then floated a ways. By the time we realized there wasn't enough room to land, I wasn't sure we'd be able to go around. We stuck to our "game plan". As soon as the wheels touched, the brakes were applied hard. We slowed down quite a bit by the time we came to the end of the runway, but we still ran off the end of it and into a farmers field. According to local authorities, the airplane overran the runway, continued onto soft terrain, impacted a dirt berm, nosed over, flipped inverted, and was substantially damaged. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot intended on landing on a 2,600-foot paved airstrip. During the final approach, the airplane was high on the glide path, so the CFI placed it into a slip. As the airplane approached the runway, it continued to float above it. The CFI elected not to perform a balked landing and attempted to land the airplane on the remaining runway length. The airplane touched down on the opposite end of the runway and the CFI applied the brakes. The airplane continued to roll beyond the end of the runway onto soft terrain. It impacted a dirt berm, nosed over, flipped inverted, and was substantially damaged. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12