N49785Cessna 152 · 1979

The student pilot flew a cross-country flight to an airport where he performed six landings. He then flew to another airport and completed two touch and go landings before attempting a third. During approach for the third touch and go landing, the student pilot noticed the airplane was too high on the downwind to base and base to final leg turns. To reduce altitude, he increased the airplane’s descent rate to 900-1,000 ft per minute with wing flaps at 30o. He planned on reestablishing the airplane on the final approach glide path but was too late doing so. He reduced the airplane’s decent rate to 600-700 ft per minute and continued the approach. He said the airplane had a high descent rate, which he felt could result in a very firm landing. He pitched the airplane up a little too much during the landing flare, and the stall warning sounded. He then initiated a go-around out of concern that the landing would result in an unsafe and hard landing. During the go-around, the stall warning sounded again and there was a lot of drag from the wing flaps. The airplane drifted away from the runway surface due to left turning tendences and impacted the terrain. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces to the wings and fuselage. The student pilot stated that there was no mechanical malfunction/failure of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

On July 5, 2014, about 1830 central daylight time, a Cessna C152 airplane, N49785, sustained substantial damage when the right wing's rear spar fractured in-flight. The commercial pilot and private pilot onboard were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the US Aviation Group under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Graham Municipal Airport (RPH), Graham, Texas, and terminated at Denton Municipal Airport (DTO), Denton, Texas.

The private pilot who was flying the airplane from the right seat reported that while flying at 3,500 feet mean sea level, 10 to 15 nautical miles west of the destination airport, a loud "boom" was heard. The commercial pilot in the left seat also reported that a "boom" was heard, and he subsequently took the flight controls, but did not feel or see any anomalies with the airplane. He continued to the destination airport and landed without further incident.

During a post-flight inspection of the airplane, the pilots discovered a hole in the top of the right wing near the fuel cap. Further inspection revealed a fracture in the right wing's rear spar.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspector who examined the airplane, a "corrosion crack" was located where the right wing's rear spar failed.

Photographs provided by the FAA showed a compression fracture of the upper aft portion of the right wing's rear spar, about 1 foot outboard of the wing-root. Surface corrosion is visible at the fracture location in the photograph. The lower portion of the spar remained intact. The fracture was not examined by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge.