- Date
- September 29, 2020, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Spring, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N75634Cessna 172N
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration; HOU FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200929016549A
- Case key
- 102057
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 airplane control during climb and subsequent impact with terrain.
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 completed three touch-and-go landings before the student pilot departed on a solo flight. The student performed two uneventful full-stop landings. He reported that on the third takeoff, after reaching an altitude of 100 – 200 ft above ground level, the airplane yawed and rolled to the left. He was unable to maintain control of the airplane and subsequently performed a forced landing on a baseball field. The airplane contacted a drainage ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane flight control system revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal airplane operation.
Factual narrative
On September 29, 2020, about 1400 central daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N75634, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Spring, Texas. The student pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The student pilot and his flight instructor completed three touch-and-go landings before the student pilot departed on a solo flight. The student pilot performed two uneventful full-stop landings. The student pilot reported the airplane yawed ‘strongly’ to the left and banked left upon reaching an altitude of 100 - 200 ft above ground level on the third takeoff. He was unable to maintain control of the airplane to return to the runway and performed a forced landing on a field. The airplane hit a drainage ditch and incurred substantial damage to the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane flight control system revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal airplane operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N75634
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17267865
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 10,110.8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- United Flight Systems
- Registered owner
- 100 Knots LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 21, 2020
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- DWH · David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 34
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 25 total · 25 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 11 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- KDWH, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KDWH 291853Z 02011G21KT 10SM CLR 26/03 A3014 RMK AO2 SLP204 T02610028
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 11, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 124 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.