- Date
- October 20, 2001, 10:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Goldsboro, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N46085Cessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Greensboro FSDO
- FAA report
- 20011020028869A
- Case key
- 53686
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a touch-and-go landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot completed his third practice landing. According to the student pilot, after touchdown he felt the nosewheel shimmy. As the student pilot added power for a go-around, the airplane pulled to the left. The student pilot attempted to correct with rudder, but was unable to keep the airplane from veering into the grass alongside the runway. The airplane slid into a ditch and rolled over inverted.
Factual narrative
On October 20, 2001 at 1020 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172, N46085, registered to and owned by Wayne Aviation slid into a ditch on landing at Goldsboro-Wayne Municipal Airport in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The instructional flight was operated by a solo student pilot, under the supervision of a flight instructor, and conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The student pilot was not injured; however, the airplane sustained substantial damage. The solo flight originated at Goldsboro-Wayne Municipal Airport, in Goldsboro, North Carolina, at 0930.
According to the student pilot, he was making his third practice landing in the traffic pattern when the accident occurred. He touched down and felt the nosewheel shimmy. He then added power for a go-around, and the airplane pulled to the left. The student pilot attempted to correct with rudder, but was unable to keep the airplane from veering into the grass alongside the runway. The airplane slid into a ditch and flipped inverted.
Examination of the airplane revealed damage to the nose gear and tail section. In addition, the left wing was bent. The pilot did not report any malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident. The post-accident examination of the airplane also failed to disclose mechanical malfunction or component failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N46085
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17264175
- Airframe hours
- 4,907
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wayne Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GWW · Goldsboro, NC
- Airport
- GWW · Goldsboro-Wayne Municipal, runway 5, 5,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 999° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- GWW
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.