- Date
- December 19, 2024, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Southport, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7085GCessna 172K
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 20, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20241219019149A
- Case key
- 199495
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 loss of aircraft control due to spatial disorientation, and the flight instructor’s inadequate supervision, which resulted in the subsequent overstress of the airplane during recovery.
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 instrument training flight was conducted in instrument meteorological conditions. The private pilot receiving instruction said that he initiated a “slight turn to the left which spatially disoriented me. We ended up in a spiral, and then my instructor took over and recovered [the airplane].” The flight instructor gave a similar account and stated that he “allowed the situation to deteriorate too far before taking control.” After landing, a visual inspection of the airplane revealed substantial damage in the form of “plastic deformation” to both wings consistent with overstress. The flight instructor reported that prior to the accident the airplane required a “1-3 degree” input in the roll axis to maintain the desired heading. When the flight instructor was asked if he felt the discrepancy was significant enough to declare an emergency, abort the mission, or perform a precautionary landing, and he replied, “No. We noticed it and briefed it, but no. It was noticed, but not a grounding condition.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7085G
- Reported as
- Cessna 172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17258785
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 10,210
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 5, 2024 · 26 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ILM
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Onboard weather, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- Pilot
- Age
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 1, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 966 total · 889 in this make and model · 844 as pilot in command · 164 in the last 90 days · 49 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 4, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 66 total · 66 in this make and model · 16 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 16 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 900 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KSUT
- METAR
- KSUT 191629Z AUTO 05016G23KT 10SM OVC009 13/12 A3015 RMK AO2
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 20, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 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.