Student Pilot Veers Cessna Off Runway

A single-engine plane being flown by a student pilot slid off a runway Monday during a landing at Van Nuys Airport, authorities said.

The mishap occurred about 2 p.m. when the unidentified pilot, who was on a test flight, lost control of a Cessna 172 as he tried to land the plane on the airport’s west runway, said Stacy Geere, a spokeswoman for Van Nuys Airport. The plane veered off the runway and ended up between two runways.

“If he would have passed this check ride, then he would have been a private pilot,” said Bruce Nelson, an operations officer with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Neither the pilot nor a passenger was injured in the landing, Geere said. The plane, however, had damage to its fuselage, a wing tip, the right main landing gear and nose gear. A damage estimate was unavailable.

“According to a preliminary investigation, the pilot reportedly came in with too much power and then the aircraft ballooned five or six feet off the runway,” Nelson said. “The student applied full power and the aircraft banked to the left and the left wing struck the ground followed by the nose wheel touching the ground and the propeller striking the ground.”

The airplane, which was based at Van Nuys Airport, was later towed to another location at the airport.

Monday’s landing was the second accident at the airport this month. An Oregon pilot died on impact after his plane crashed Nov. 14 in fog so thick that the accident--and the pilot--were not discovered until more than four hours later.

The crash occurred after the pilot, Robert Olson, 32, of Medford, Ore., apparently missed two runways and hit six parked planes, authorities said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.