- Date
- December 13, 2012, 08:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Murfreesboro, TN
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N54500Cessna 172P
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Abrupt maneuver
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 3, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- Cessna, FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20121213028099A
- Case key
- 85808
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 during takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion.
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 stated that during the practice soft field takeoff, he pulled the yoke back and applied full power. The airplane veered left and skidded off the runway where the propeller struck a concrete culvert. The skid continued across the grass and the airplane came to rest in a drainage area. Postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the wings, firewall, and fuselage. The student pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot stated that during the practice soft field takeoff, he pulled the yoke back and applied full power. The airplane veered left and skidded off the runway where the propeller struck a concrete culvert. The skid continued across the grass and the airplane came to rest in a drainage area. A post-accident examination conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the wings, firewall, and fuselage. The student pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54500
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274990
- Airframe hours
- 7,399
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James K. Gardner, doing business as Jkg, LLC
- Registered owner
- Skylark Flight Training LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 12, 2012 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- MBT · Murfreesboro, TN
- Destination
- MBT · Murfreesboro, TN
- Airport
- MBT · Murfreesboro Municipal, runway 36, 3,898 × 100 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
- 49
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 52 total · 48 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 27 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.42 inHg
- Observed at
- MQY, 11 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 4, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.6 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.