- Date
- August 27, 2018, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Winchester, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N53051Cessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180827012399A
- Case key
- 98169
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 maintain directional control during the takeoff roll.
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 student pilot reported that he completed a touch-and-go landing and applied full power to increase the airplane's ground speed. During the takeoff roll, the engine power increased, and the airplane drifted to the left side of the runway. The student applied full right rudder, but it was ineffective. He then reduced the engine power to idle and applied brakes, but the airplane exited the left side of the runway, collided with a drainage culvert, and then came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The student reported that he thought that a mechanical malfunction of the rudder system might have occurred before the accident sequence. However, Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspectors reported that, during a postaccident airplane examination, the rudder system was operational, and rudder control continuity was established.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that he completed a touch-and-go landing and applied full power to increase the airplane's ground speed. During the takeoff roll, the engine power increased, and the airplane drifted to the left side of the runway. The student pilot's full deflection right rudder application was ineffective, and the he reduced the engine power to idle. He applied brakes, but the airplane exited the left side of the runway, collided with a drainage culvert, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The student pilot suspected that a mechanical malfunction of the airplane's rudder system may have occurred prior to the accident sequence. However, Federal Aviation Administration, Aviation Safety Inspectors reported that during a post-accident airplane examination, the airplane's rudder system was operational and rudder control continuity was attained.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53051
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (P)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274673
- Built
- 1981
- Airframe hours
- 12,049.7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- AV-ED Flight School- Winchester, LLC
- Registered owner
- Archer Associates Llc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 27, 2018
- Departed
- OKV · Winchester, VA
- Destination
- OKV · Winchester, VA
- Airport
- OKV · Winchester Rgnl, runway 32, 5,498 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- None
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 17 total · 17 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KOKV
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 17, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.7 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.