- Date
- April 30, 1998, 07:45 local (13:45 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Collins, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N25525Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 30, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980430014319A
- Case key
- 20589
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 improper use of the rudder controls, which resulted in loss of directional control, a ground swerve, an encounter with soft terrain, and a nose over. The soft terrain was a related factor.
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 the takeoff roll on her first solo flight, the 20 hour (total flight time) student pilot applied left rudder when the aircraft started to drift left. The aircraft departed the left side of the 100 foot wide runway and entered soft terrain where it nosed over. The runway heading was 330 degrees magnetic, and the wind at the time was from 300 degrees magnetic heading at 5 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 30, 1998, at 0745 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 152, N25525, nosed over after departing the side of the runway during takeoff roll at Fort Collins/Loveland Municipal Airport, Fort Collins, Colorado. The student pilot and sole occupant was not injured and the aircraft received substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this student solo instructional flight operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was departing when the accident occurred.
According to information provided by the pilot and verified by her instructor, this was the initial takeoff roll on her first solo flight. In her written statement, the student pilot said she was lined up on the runway for her takeoff with the nose pointed slightly left. When she added power for takeoff, the aircraft started toward the left side of the runway and she applied left rudder to correct her heading instead of right rudder. The aircraft departed the left side of the runway onto soft terrain and nosed over. The student said she "froze up." Her recorded flight time was 20.1 hours total time, all of which was accumulated in the Cessna 152 aircraft.
The takeoff was being conducted on runway 33 which is 8,500 feet long and 100 feet wide with an asphalt surface. The weather was clear skies and the wind recorded by AWOS (automatic weather observation system), was from 300 degrees magnetic at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N25525
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280716
- Airframe hours
- 4,514
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Colorado Contrails
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 19, 1997 · 83 hours before
- Departed
- FNL
- Airport
- FNL · Fort Collins/Loveland, runway 33, 8,500 × 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
- 18
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20 total · 20 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FNL, 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.