- Date
- September 30, 2014, 15:40 local (22:40 UTC)
- Place
- Thermal, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N738TJCessna 172N
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20140930023809I
- Case key
- 90199
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 landing after an encounter with a dust devil.
Findings · 3
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 reported that after touchdown, during the roll out, the airplane encountered a dust devil. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control and the airplane subsequently departed the runway surface. The airplane pitched down in the soft sand and the right wing was substantially damaged when it struck the ground. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that after touchdown, during the roll out, the airplane encountered a dust devil. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control and the airplane subsequently departed the runway surface. The airplane pitched down in the soft sand and the right wing was substantially damaged when it struck the ground. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N738TJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270222
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 9,633.6
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Glendale Community College
- Registered owner
- Glendale Community College
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- August 28, 2014
- Departed
- KPSP · Palm Springs, CA
- Destination
- KTRM · Thermal, CA
- Airport
- KTRM · Jacqueline Cochran Regional Ai, runway 17, 8,500 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 33.5 total · 33.5 in this make and model · 6 as pilot in command · 33.5 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1.6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.65 inHg
- Observed at
- KTRM
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 MB 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.