Cessna 172M N80253

Summary

On 5 January 1999 at about 16:10 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N80253 was involved in an accident near Midlothian, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 January 1999 at 16:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Midlothian, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Midlothian/Waxahachie (4T6)

Coordinates

32.4905, -96.9898

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N80253

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Prairie → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW99LA063

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to compensate for a crosswind resulting in a loss of control. Factors were the gusty high winds and the flight instructor's improper decision to allow the student to solo during high winds.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the FAA inspector who responded to the accident site, the 24 hour student pilot had flown with his flight instructor from the home base airport to a nearby uncontrolled airport for a supervised solo flight. After a few practice takeoffs and landings at the uncontrolled airport, the flight instructor exited the airplane and cleared the student pilot for a solo flight. The student pilot reported that while on short final for runway 18, 'he caught a gust of wind from the left which pushed the left wing up and banked the airplane to the right.' The student added that he applied full engine power to perform a go-around, yet the nose pitched down. The student stated that the airplane impacted the ground on the west side of the runway in a nose low attitude with the right wing down. The airplane came to rest in the inverted position, approximately 100 feet from the edge of the runway. The flaps were found extended approximately 15 degrees. The winds at the time of the accidents were estimated to be from 150 degrees at 15 knots, gusting to 20.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.