- Date
- November 5, 2002, 15:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Mesquite, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N13265Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20021105031169A
- Case key
- 56018
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 pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff. A contributing factor was the ditch.
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 an attempted takeoff, the student pilot lost directional control of the airplane and it veered off the side of the runway, collided with a ditch, and nosed over. The accident occurred during the student's first solo cross-country flight. According to the student, she had made a normal approach and landing on runway 19. Thereafter, she retracted the wing flaps and applied full engine power to take off. At this moment, the airplane began turning left, and she attempted to correct its course by applying pressure to the right rudder pedal. The student was unsuccessful in redirecting the airplane onto its proper course down the 75-foot-wide by 5,100-foot-long runway under the prevailing calm wind condition. The student's CFI opined that his student may not have applied sufficient right rudder pressure to counteract the airplane's left turning tendency after the application of engine power. At the time of the accident, the student's total solo flight time, and total time, was 4.2 and 25.3 hours, respectively.
Factual narrative
On November 5, 2002, about 1515 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172M, N13265, veered off the runway and nosed over during an attempted takeoff from the Mesquite (uncontrolled) Airport, Mesquite, Nevada. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the student pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated by West Air Aviation, North Las Vegas, Nevada, under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan had been filed for the solo instructional flight. The flight originated from North Las Vegas about 1435.
The student pilot and her certified flight instructor (CFI) were interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator. They reported that the accident occurred during the student's first solo cross-country flight. The student had previously landed at the accident airport with her CFI, and she had received a 90-day logbook endorsement to return to the airport.
The student stated that she entered the airport's traffic pattern and made a normal approach to runway 19. She intended to perform a touch-and-go landing. According to the student, following her unremarkable touchdown, she retracted the wing flaps and applied full engine power to take off. At this moment, the airplane began turning left, and she attempted to correct its course by applying pressure to the right rudder pedal. However, the airplane's course continued toward the left. The airplane overran the left side of the runway, collided with a ditch and nosed over.
The CFI opined that his student may not have applied sufficient right rudder pressure to counteract the airplane's left turning tendency after the application of engine power. At the time of the accident, the student's total solo flight time, and total time, was 4.2 and 25.3 hours, respectively.
Runway 19 is 5,100 feet long and 75 feet wide. The pilot reported that at the time of the accident the local wind was calm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N13265
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17262623
- Airframe hours
- 3,087
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- West Air Aviation
- Registered owner
- Brian R. Gayhart
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 19, 2002
- Departed
- VGT · North Las Vegas, NV
- Destination
- 67L · Mesquite, NV
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 67L · Mesquite, runway 19, 5,100 × 75 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 25 total · 25 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- SGU, 27 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.