- Date
- November 20, 2015, 13:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Rush City, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1180UCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Minneapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20151120021049A
- Case key
- 92500
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 did not maintain directional control of the airplane and applied excessive right rudder during landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot was completing his first solo flight and had already done eight takeoffs and landings. On the ninth landing, the airspeed was higher than normal and the airplane porpoised. When the airplane touched down the student pilot applied excessive right rudder. The airplane veered right and departed the right side of the runway into the soft wet ground. The airplane nosed into the mud and then came to rest upright. The left wing impacted the ground and was substantially damaged. The operator reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot was completing his first solo flight and had already done eight takeoffs and landings. On the ninth landing, the airspeed was higher than normal and the airplane porpoised. When the airplane touched down the student pilot applied excessive right rudder. The airplane veered right and departed the right side of the runway into the soft wet ground. The airplane nosed into the mud and then came to rest upright. The left wing impacted the ground and was substantially damaged. The operator reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1180U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (M)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266881
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 9,569.1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Hawk Aviation Inc
- Registered owner
- Hawk Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 27, 2015 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- ROS · Rush City, MN
- Destination
- ROS · Rush City, MN
- Airport
- ROS · Rush City Rgnl, runway 34, 4,397 × 75 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 25 total · 22 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 27 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KROS
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 12, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.