- Date
- November 17, 2007, 14:14 local (22:14 UTC)
- Place
- Atwater, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3318ECessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20071117827099A
- Case key
- 67135
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 failure of the student pilot to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Factors contributing to the accident included the sign and 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
This was the student pilot's first supervised solo. After making his second landing and during the landing roll, the airplane began to veer to the left. An attempt to correct back to the right was unsuccessful, which was followed by the airplane continuing to the left and impacting a runway sign. The airplane continued northwest-bound before impacting a drainage ditch approximately 250 feet from the edge of the runway. The aircraft subsequently turned eastbound and crossed the drainage ditch a second time, which resulted in the collapse of the right main landing gear. The airplane came to rest in an upright position with its tail section in the drainage ditch and its right wing tip laying on the ground. The airplane's right wing sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
This was the student pilot's first supervised solo. After making his second landing and during the landing roll, the airplane began to veer to the left. An attempt to correct back to the right was unsuccessful, which was followed by the airplane continuing to the left and impacting a runway sign. The airplane continued northwest-bound before impacting a drainage ditch approximately 250 feet from the edge of the runway. The aircraft subsequently turned eastbound and crossed the drainage ditch a second time, which resulted in the collapse of the right main landing gear. The airplane came to rest in an upright position with its tail section in the drainage ditch and its right wing tip laying on the ground. The airplane's right wing sustained substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3318E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271502
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- American School of Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MER · Atwater, CA
- Destination
- MER · Atwater, CA
- Airport
- MER · Castle Airport, runway 31, 11,802 × 150 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
- 18
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 23 total · 23 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- MER
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.