- Date
- April 6, 2021, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fayetteville, NC · Airport Off Side of Runway
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5424RCessna 172F
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: 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
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20210406003709A
- Case key
- 102888
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 pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and subsequent noseover.
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 pilot was landing the airplane on a 3,500-ft-long runway and reported that the airplane was “long and fast” during the approach. The airplane floated down the runway before eventually touching down. Seeing that the end of the runway was approaching, the pilot applied the brakes. After the nose landing gear touched down, the airplane veered off the runway to the left. As it departed the runway surface, the propeller struck the ground and the airplane nosed over. The airplane’s fuselage, left wing, and vertical stabilizer were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5424R
- Reported as
- Cessna 172F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17252969
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 3,357
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cape Fear Aviation Maintenance LLC
- Registered owner
- Cape Fear Aviation Maintenance LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 31, 2021
- Departed
- EYF · Elizabethtown, NJ
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 2GC · Grays Creek, runway 17/35, 3,500 × 30 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Sport pilot, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 12, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,011 total · 558 in this make and model · 794 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- FAY, 6 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KFAY 061953Z 29003KT 9SM CLR 28/02 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP137 T02830017=
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 7, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.4 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.