- Date
- April 10, 1997, 09:18 local (13:18 UTC)
- Place
- Lawrenceville, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4874DCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970410005689A
- Case key
- 38255
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 a crosswind landing. The winds were a 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
The student pilot stated that the tower advised him on downwind that another pilot had encountered a wind shear on landing earlier that day. The student pilot completed a touch-and-go landing without incident. He remained in closed traffic for another touch-and-go landing. As he started his round out the airplane encountered gusty wind conditions. The airplane ballooned up and started to settle, when a second gust was encountered and the left wing was pitched downward. The airplane was blown off the left side of the runway while airborne. He attempted a go-around and was reaching for the flaps when he encountered a third gust. The airplane pitched down and the nosewheel collided with the ground. He lost directional control of the airplane, it veered further to the left, and nosed over inverted.
Factual narrative
On April 10, 1997, about 0918 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N4874D, registered to Galla Aviation, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed on landing at the Gwinnett County-Briscoe Field Airport, Lawrenceville, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was not filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Lawrenceville about 4 to 5 minutes before the accident.
The pilot stated he was on his third solo flight, and he had just returned from the local training area to conduct touch-and-go landings. The tower advised him while on downwind that another airplane had encountered windshear earlier in the morning. He completed the touch-and-go without incident and remained in left closed traffic for another touch-and-go landing on runway 07. As he started his round out the airplane encountered gusty wind conditions. The airplane ballooned up and started to settle, when a second gust was encountered and the left wing was pitched downward. The airplane was blown off the left side of the runway while airborne. The student pilot attempted a go-around and was reaching for the flaps when he encountered a third gust. The airplane pitched down and the nosewheel collided with the ground. He lost directional control of the airplane, it veered further to the left, and nosed over inverted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4874D
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17272382
- Airframe hours
- 4,453
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pks Inc.
- Registered owner
- Donald & Jennifer Galla
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 2, 1997 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- LZU
- Airport
- LZU · Gwinett County, runway 7, 6,000 × 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 24 total · 24 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 8 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LZU
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 N4874D · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.