Plane Crash List

Cessna 172R N4201Y

11 March 2003 · Thermal, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 11 March 2003 at about 19:00 local time, a Cessna 172R registered N4201Y, operated by The Flight School at Palm Springs, was involved in an accident near Thermal, California, 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.

The record

Date
at 19:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Thermal, California, United States
Nearest airport
Desert Resorts Regional (TRM)
Coordinates
33.6167, -116.1500
Aircraft
Cessna 172R
Registration
N4201Y
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
The Flight School at Palm Springs
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Instructional
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Palm Springs → Unknown
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX03LA112

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

the student pilot's failure to use aileron controls to compensate for the known crosswind and failure to maintain directional control during the landing rollout.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the landing rollout with a right quartering tailwind, the airplane veered off the runway, the nose wheel dug into the soft sand, and the airplane nosed over. After touch down the right wing was still airborne, with only the nose and left wheels on the pavement. The pilot used only the nose wheel steering and rudder to maintain directional control, but did not use the ailerons. The student pilot stated that there were no mechanical difficulties encountered with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Cessna 172 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
25 Dec 2003 Cessna 172RG
N4721R
Key West, Florida, United States Avion Jet Center, LLC No injuries -
16 Mar 2003 Cessna 172N
N5315D
Foley, Minnesota, United States - Fatal 3
12 Jul 2003 Cessna 172S
N5327G
Chandler, Arizona, United States Angel Air No injuries -
18 Jan 2003 Cessna 172
N6312E
Chesapeake, Virginia, United States - No injuries -
21 Mar 2003 Cessna 172S
N219ME
Monroe, Georgia, United States Elite Flight Center Fatal 2
22 Aug 2003 Cessna 172S
N53033
Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States Wings, Inc. Fatal 3

All 12,209 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
14 Jan 2003 Cessna 414
N127WW
Palm Springs, California, United States - Serious injuries -
15 Nov 2003 Omf OMF-100-160
N290MF
Van Nuys, California, United States Alliance International Serious injuries -
16 Jan 2003 Cessna 152
N25562
Salinas, California, United States Squadron 2 No injuries -
17 Nov 2003 Beechcraft A36TC
N52AM
Visalia, California, United States John Rodgers Minor injuries -
22 Sep 2003 Cessna 150F
N3093X
Reedley, California, United States - No injuries -
27 Sep 2003 McClanahan STITS PLAYMATE SA-11
N9YC
Fontana, California, United States - Fatal 2

All 170,864 records in United States