- Date
- October 23, 2025, 08:18 UTC
- Place
- St. Augustine, FL · 1nm off departure end of RY 31 / SGJ
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N95005Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 11, 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
- 20251023017979A
- Case key
- 201924
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 properly set the elevator trim prior to takeoff, which resulted in her inability to effectively control the airplane’s pitch and a collision with trees at the end of the runway during initial climb.
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 accident takeoff was the student pilot’s second solo flight lesson. She reported that the airplane began to climb with difficulty from the 8,001 ft-long runway, while the airspeed was increasing. She checked the cockpit instrumentation, and everything appeared normal, except the altitude and airspeed. She further described having difficulty pitching the airplane up and it struck trees at the end of the runway. Review of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data revealed that the airplane was traveling at 100 kts groundspeed just prior to the collision with trees. The airplane came to rest in a marsh, upright and partially submerged. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. Further examination of the wreckage revealed that the flaps were near the 15° extended position, and the elevator trim was near the full nose-down position. Based on this information it is likely that the combined position of the elevator trim resulted in the student pilot’s difficulty controlling the airplane’s pitch during initial climb.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N95005
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285835
- Built
- 1984
- Airframe hours
- 8,935
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Florida Flyers Academy
- Registered owner
- Christiansen Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 8, 2025 · 44 hours before
- Airport
- SGJ · Northeast Florida Rgnl, runway 31, 8,001 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 20
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 39 total · 39 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- SGJ, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSGJ 231156Z 32008KT 10SM CLR 14/10 A3013 RMK AO2 SLP201 7//// T01440100 10183 20144 51018 $=
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 11, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.8 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.