- Date
- October 3, 1991, 09:54 local (16:54 UTC)
- Place
- Palo Alto, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3318ECessna C-172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911003044599A
- Case key
- 27465
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
An inflight los of control due to the failure of the student pilot to correctly configure the rudder trim for takeoff.
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
The student pilot said she was practicing soft field takeoffs and landings during the solo instructional session. Ground witnesses at the airport reported that the aircraft achieved a very steep climb angle after rotation for the takeoff initial climb. The aircraft then began drifting to the left in a nose high descent attitude and the left wing collided with a tree on a golf course adjacent to the airport. The aircraft was examined by FAA airworthiness inspectors. Control system continuity was established throughout the aircraft. No abnormal system conditions were noted during the examination. The rudder trim control was found positioned at about 50 percent to the left.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3318E
- Reported as
- Cessna C-172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271502
- Airframe hours
- 2,342
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Air One
- Registered owner
- Air One
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 10, 1991 · 13 hours before
- Airport
- PAO · Palo Alto, runway 3, 2,500 × 65 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
- 54
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 140 total · 140 in this make and model · 19 as pilot in command · 56 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAO, 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 N3318E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.