- Date
- April 22, 2020, 17:55 local (22:55 UTC)
- Place
- Ft Worth, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N13005Cessna 172
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20200422002159A
- Case key
- 101193
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 a stabilized approach and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action to initiate a go-around, which resulted in a runway overrun and impact with runway lights and fences.
Findings · 6
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 flight instructor reported that he and the student pilot were prepared to land on runway 14 with partial flaps and reported wind from 190° at 17 knots. When they turned onto final approach, the instructor noticed that the airplane was too high and not aligned with the runway and that the airspeed was high. As the airplane approached the touchdown point, it encountered turbulence. The instructor took control of the airplane and executed a right-wing-low partial slip. The airplane touched down halfway down the 3,740-ft-long runway with a high ground speed. The instructor applied the brakes, and the wheels immediately locked, so he released the brakes and then tried reapplying them; however, the airplane did not decelerate. The airplane overran the runway and struck several airport lights and then traveled through two barbed-wire fences. The right main landing gear separated, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer sustained substantial damage. After the instructor and student exited the airplane, they noticed that the windsock indicated that they had landed with a strong quartering tailwind. The instructor said that the accident was due to the "undetected shift in wind direction - from a quartering headwind to a quartering/direct tailwind" and he and the student's incorrect decision to continue the approach and landing when the airplane was not stabilized.
Factual narrative
The student pilot and flight instructor prepared to land on runway 14 with partial flaps and a reported wind from 190° at 17 knots. When they turned onto final approach, the flight instructor noticed that the airplane was too high and not aligned with the runway. As the airplane approached the touchdown point, they encountered turbulence. The flight instructor took control of the airplane and executed a right wing-low partial slip. The airplane touched down halfway down the 3,740-ft runway with a high ground speed. The flight instructor applied brakes and they immediately locked, so he released the brakes and tried reapplying them. The airplane did not decelerate as expected. The airplane struck several airport lights, then traveled through two barbed wire fences; the right main landing gear separated, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer sustained substantial damage. After the flight instructor and student pilot exited the airplane, they noticed the windsock indicated a strong quartering tailwind. The flight instructor said that the accident was caused by this undetected shift in wind direction, from a quartering headwind to a quartering tailwind. He also cited the incorrect decision to continue the approach and landing when the airplane was not stabilized on the approach.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N13005
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (M)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17262440
- Built
- 1973
- Airframe hours
- 15,013
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 10, 2019 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- WEA · Fort Worth, TX
- Destination
- WEA · Fort Worth, TX
- Airport
- T67 · Hicks Airfield, runway 14, 3,740 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Onboard weather
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 18, 2019
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 23,856 total · 1,989 in this make and model · 20,434 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 32 total · 22 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 19 knots, gusting 27
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.52 inHg
- Observed at
- KAFW, 5 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 26, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.