- Date
- April 19, 2022, 11:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Englewood, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N711DACessna 172N
- Defining event
- Landing: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220419005599A
- Case key
- 104970
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 flight instructor’s inadequate supervision of the student pilot and the student pilot’s loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.
Findings · 3
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 during landing, the student pilot was the pilot flying. The airplane touched down and immediately veered to the right. The student pilot attempted to correct with left rudder, but the airplane continued to veer to the right. The flight instructor then took the controls and stated she heard a “rumbling noise” coming from the nose wheel area of the airplane. The airplane exited the right side of the runway and impacted a taxiway sign coming to a rest in a ditch. The nosewheel strut, right main landing gear and horizontal stabilizer were substantially damaged. A postaccident visual examination of the brakes, nosewheel steering, and flight controls revealed no abnormalities or defects that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
On April 19, 2022, about 1130 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N airplane, N711DA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Centennial, Colorado. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor stated that she and the student pilot were cleared for a straight-in approach to runway 28 at Centennial Airport (APA), Centennial, Colorado, after having practiced several maneuvers. The student pilot landed the airplane on the runway under her supervision. After touchdown, the airplane began veering right of the centerline as its speed began to slow. The student pilot attempted to apply left rudder input to counter the veer to the right, but the airplane continued to veer to the right. The flight instructor then took control of the airplane and applied left rudder and the brakes, but the right veering continued. The flight instructor reported hearing a rumbling noise from the nosewheel at this point and added back pressure to keep the nose off the ground. The airplane’s nosewheel then hit a taxiway sign before the airplane came to rest in a ditch. A postaccident visual examination of the brakes, nosewheel steering, and flight controls revealed no abnormalities or defects that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N711DA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17268365
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 10,120
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aspen Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Aircraft Solutions Group LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 26, 2022
- Departed
- APA · Centennial, CO
- Destination
- APA · Centennial, CO
- Airport
- KAPA · Centennial Airport, runway 28, 4,800 × 75 ft, asphalt
- 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
- 37
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 3, 2021
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 650 total · 279 in this make and model · 491 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 19
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 19 total · 16 in this make and model · 0 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.76 inHg
- Observed at
- KAPA
- METAR
- KAPA 191553Z 22015KT 10SM FEW130 SCT200 19/M06 A2976 RMK AO2 SLP031 T01891061
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 23, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 16.9 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.
Other investigations on N711DA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.