20021105031169A

(.19) On November 5, 2002, about 1515 pacific standard time, a Cessna 172M, N13265, nosed over during an attempted takeoff from the Mesquite (uncontrolled) airport, Mesquite, Nevada. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the student pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated by west air aviation, north las vegas, Nevada, under 14 CFR part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the solo instructional flight. The flight originated from north las vegas about 1435. The student pilot and her certified flight instructor (CFI) were interviewed by the national transportation safety board investigator. They reported that the accident occurred during the student's first solo cross-country flight. She had previously landed with her CFI at the airport, and she had received a 90-DAY logbook endorsement to return to the airport. The student stated that she entered the airport's traffic pattern and made a normal approach to runway 19. She intended to perform a touch-and-go landing. According to the student, following her unremarkable touchdown, she retracted the wing flaps and applied full engine power to takeoff. At this moment, the airplane began turning left, and she attempted to correct its course by applying pressure to the right rudder pedal. However, the airplane s course continued toward the left. The airplane overran the left side of the runway, collided with a ditch and nosed over. The CFI opined that his student may not have applied sufficient right rudder pressure to counteract the airplane's left turning tendency after the application of engine power. (-23) this 25-hour student pilot was midway through a short VFR solo cross-country when she crashed on landing at Mesquite, NV (67L). The runway at Mesquite is oriented 01-19, 5100 feet long, with a significant (downhill) gradient on 19. According to her account, the pilot lost control of the aircraft attempting a planned touch-and-go landing. The aircraft touched down approximately 1000 feet from the runway threshold. As she applied power, the flaps were fully extended but selected and in transit to the "up" position. The aircraft yawed and rolled to the left to the extent that the left main wheel left the runway surface. The aircraft departed the asphalt surface to the left approximately 216 feet from the point at which it departed the ru nway centerline. The aircraft then continued in the dirt roughly parallel to the runway. It bounced over one ditch, and encountered a second ditch. At the second ditch the nose strut and wheel failed and the aircraft nosed-over onto its back, coming to rest approximately 380 feet south of the point at which it left the runway. It was displaced 20 feet off the left edge of the runway surface, nose facing north, with the fuselage parallel to the ruwnay. The student pilot sustained no injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The following observations were made at the site: the nosewheel strut had separated at the firewall and at its fuselage skin attachments, but was otherwise in its normal position. The nose wheel itself and a portion of the fork casting were found 100 feet north of the aircraft. The underside of the nose and cowl were crushed. The prop spinner was crushed. The propeller blade tips were each curled aft at about 10 inches from the tips. The left wing tip was crushed and deflected down and aft, the left spar apparently deformed and the wing itself twisted. The right wing spar was bent down, the strut deflected up at its center. The vertical stabilizer tip fairing was crushed, accompanying lamps destroyed. The aft fuselage underside was creased and deflected down at a point approx. 4 feet forward of the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. The windshield was shattered. Inside the cockpit: the pilot's shoulder harness was attached to the lap belt stud. The throttle was in the full-open position. The mixture and carburetor heat were each pulled out approx. 1 inch. The engine primer was in and locked. The #2 nav/com unit had been removed from the instrument panel. The tachometer read 30872, the hobbs meter 407.6.