- Date
- September 13, 2020, 15:35 local (20:35 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7562FCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Houston FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200913012429A
- Case key
- 101967
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 upon 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 and his flight instructor were on an instructional flight when the airplane suddenly veered to the right upon landing. The flight instructor stated that his student had simply lost control upon touchdown. The flight instructor reported that he took control of the airplane from his student, but he was unable to regain directional control of the airplane before it departed off the right side of the runway and nosed over. The engine mount, left wing strut, left wing main spar, vertical stabilizer, and the rudder were substantially damaged. The flight instructor reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded its normal operation. The student pilot reported that they had completed 3 uneventful landings before the accident. The student pilot had observed some stiffness in the rudder system during his preflight inspection, the rudder did not self-center while on the ground at slow speeds, and that the cockpit floor carpet was loose and had to be repositioned several times during the flight. An examination of the airplane wreckage revealed impact-related damage to the rudder that precluded its movement, but there were no additional flight control issues observed. Examination revealed the cockpit floor carpet was loose and bunched-up, but it could not be determined if it had contributed to the loss of directional control or had become unsecured while the pilots made their emergency exit following the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7562F
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (N)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273260
- Built
- 1980
- Airframe hours
- 6,324.5
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Coastal Skies Aero Club
- Registered owner
- Green Airports Development Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 3, 2020
- Departed
- AXH · Houston, TX
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- LVJ · Pearland Regional Airport, runway 14, 4,313 × 75 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Stall warning system
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
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 83
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 12, 2019
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 28,580 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 28,270 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 90 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 41
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 22.5 total · 15.1 in this make and model · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 11,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- LVJ
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 21, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.