Cessna 172S N519ER

Summary

On 8 June 2003 at about 21:42 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N519ER, operated by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was involved in an accident near Prescott, Arizona, 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

8 June 2003 at 21:42

Classification

Accident

Location

Prescott, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Ernest A Love Field (PRC)

Coordinates

34.6544, -112.4194

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N519ER

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Prescott → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03LA186

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain directional control. Also causal was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight in allowing the student to perform a solo flight with a strong, gusting crosswind near the factory demonstrated crosswind component limit. Factors to the accident were the gusty crosswind conditions, and a lack of flight school standards pertaining to student pilot supervised solo flights in challenging weather conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While practicing touch-and-go landings on his second supervised solo, the student pilot lost control of the airplane and veered off the left side of the runway. He had been compensating for a crosswind estimated by himself and his instructor to be around 10 knots, and from the left side of the runway, 21R. This compensation was accomplished using a forward slip, with the left wing down into the wind and right rudder. In the past his instructor had noted problems with the student's execution of forward slips, and attributes the accident to the student not maintaining adequate wind correction. At the time of the accident, winds at the airport were from 250 degrees at 13, gusting to 18 knots. Measurements from in the hours preceding the accident and hours after the accident show differing angles of crosswind direction but similar speeds and gusts. The airplane's performance charts indicate that a 13-knot crosswind would have been experienced under such conditions, and states that maximum demonstrated crosswind to be 15 knots. The Chief Flight Instructor stated that he would solo a student in a maximum of "7 to 10 knots of crosswind," but only if the student had been performing exceptionally well. The school's curriculum sets no crosswind limits for students on their initial supervised solo flights.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.