- Date
- October 5, 2018, 11:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Stockton, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N78239Cessna 172
- Defining event
- Takeoff: 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
- 20181005016699A
- Case key
- 98452
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 takeoff.
Findings · 4
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 solo student pilot reported that, during departure and before rotation, the airplane veered left, and he applied opposite rudder, but the airplane impacted a taxiway sign. The nose landing gear separated from the firewall, and the airplane exited the runway to the left and came to rest upright in a field adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall structural plate and the lower firewall flange. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot reported that during a touch and go landing roll, he reduced the throttle to idle, attempted to retract the flaps, but could have moved the flaps to the down position, and he turned off the carburetor heat. During departure, prior to rotation, the airplane veered to the left and he applied opposite rudder, but the airplane impacted a taxiway sign. The nose landing gear separated from the firewall and the airplane exited the runway to the left and came to rest upright in a field adjacent to the runway. The pilot added that he was not familiar to the airplane's flap system. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall structural plate and the lower firewall flange. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78239
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (K)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17257540
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 5,442.2
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 ED2, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Jc Air Academy Inc
- Registered owner
- Jc Air Academy Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 21, 2018
- Departed
- SCK · Stockton, CA
- Destination
- SCK · Stockton, CA
- Airport
- SCK · Stockton Metropolitan, runway 29L, 4,448 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 47.7 total · 19.2 in this make and model · 33.9 in the last 90 days · 11.8 in the last 30 days · 3.2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KSCK, 1 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 1, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.7 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.
Other investigations on N78239 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.