- Date
- June 12, 1996, 10:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Farmington, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3535ECessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960612013419A
- Case key
- 19861
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
failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during a touch-and-go landing, which resulted in a ground swerve and subsequent collision with a parked airplane.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During a touch-and-go landing on a student solo training flight, the aircraft departed the side of the runway. Subsequently, it went across a grass area, a taxiway, and onto an adjacent ramp, where it collided with a parked aircraft (Cessna 402, N26156). The student pilot had a total flight time of 31 hours, which included 12.3 hours in the same make and model and 2.6 hours of solo flight time.
Factual narrative
On June 12, 1996, at 1030 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N3535E, departed the side of the runway during takeoff on a touch-and-go landing at Four Corners Regional Airport, Farmington, New Mexico. The solo student pilot was not injured and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 as a student solo training flight and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
According to witnesses in the control tower, it appeared the pilot lost control during a touch-and-go landing and went off the side of the runway, across a grass area, taxiway, and onto an adjacent ramp where the aircraft collided with a parked Cessna 402 (N26156) causing minor damage to the parked aircraft. The pilot's statement (see attached) collaborates what the control tower personnel observed and reported in an interview with an FAA inspector.
As reported on NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the student pilot had 31 hours total flight time, 12.3 hours in this make and model aircraft, and according to his written statement, he had soloed after 28.4 hours of instruction. Thus, it is calculated that he had 2.6 hours of solo flight time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3535E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271577
- Airframe hours
- 2,566
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Four Corners Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 5, 1996 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- FMN
- Airport
- FMN · Four Corners Regional, runway 25, 6,702 × 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 17
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 31 total · 12 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMN, 1 nm away
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 N3535E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.