- Date
- February 23, 2010, 15:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Delta, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N894CTDiamond Aircraft Ind DA 20-C1
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 17, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Salt Lake FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100223028079A
- Case key
- 75404
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 incorrect use of the flaps and failure to attain and maintain an adequate airspeed during the attempted go-around procedure, which led to a stall/mush condition. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's lack of familiarity with the destination airport, and his delayed decision to execute the go-around.
Findings · 5
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 student pilot was on his first solo cross-county fight, which had as its planned destination an airport that he had never been to prior to that flight. Upon arriving at the unfamiliar airport, he overflew the area in order to get a sight picture of the situation. He then flew a non-standard pattern to the final approach of the runway he chose to land on. Although his approach had not become stabilized by short final, he decided to continue the landing. When the airplane’s main gear contacted the runway, it bounced back into the air, and the pilot decided to execute a go-around. During the go-around, the pilot, who said the engine sounded like it went to full rpm, did not let the airplane stabilize and accelerate before retracting the flaps, and he therefore found that the airplane would not maintain the climb that he tried to establish. As he attempted to continue the go-around, the airplane slowed and its left wing dropped, and the pilot was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane then descended into the soft terrain off the left side of the runway, and nosed over onto its back. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its wings, fuselage, and empennage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector monitored an engine inspection and test run, which did not reveal any anomalies or issues with the engine, which was able to be run to full power.
Factual narrative
The student pilot was on his first solo cross-county fight, which had as its planned destination an airport that he had never been to prior to that flight. Upon arriving at the unfamiliar airport, he overflew the area in order to get a sight picture of the situation. He then flew a non-standard pattern to the final approach of the runway he chose to land on. Although his approach had not become stabilized by short final, he decided to continue the landing. When the airplane’s main gear contacted the runway, it bounced back into the air, and the pilot decided to execute a go-around. During the go-around, the pilot, who said the engine sounded like it went to full rpm, did not let the airplane stabilize and accelerate before repositioning the flaps, and he therefore found that the airplane would not maintain the climb that he tried to establish. As he attempted to continue the go-around, the airplane slowed and its left wing dropped, and the pilot was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane then descended into the soft terrain off the left side of the runway, and nosed over onto its back. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its wings, fuselage, and empennage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector monitored an engine inspection and test run, which did not reveal any anomalies or issues with the engine, which was able to be run to full power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N894CT
- Reported as
- Diamond Aircraft Ind DA 20-C1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- C0094
- Airframe hours
- 6,054
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-240 SERIES, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Utah Valley University
- Registered owner
- Kg Leasing LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 7, 2009
- Departed
- KPVU · Provo, UT
- Destination
- KDTA · Delta, UT
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- KDTA · Delta Municipal, runway 30, 5,935 × 85 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
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 52 total · 52 in this make and model · 33 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 12, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 243 KB 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.