Cessna 172 N4072F

Summary

On 27 April 2011 at about 22:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N4072F was involved in an accident near Mesa, 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

27 April 2011 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Mesa, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Falcon Field Airport (FFZ)

Coordinates

33.4564, -111.7236

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N4072F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mesa → Mesa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11LA211

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's inadequate directional control during the landing roll.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was performing the first of three planned touch-and-go landings and takeoffs. During the landing roll, the airplane began to drift to the left. The pilot applied right rudder input, and the airplane nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Postaccident examination revealed evidence, including damage to the left side of the nose wheel rim and a bending overstress separation of the left steering rod tube, indicative of excessive side loading during landing. Further examination of the steering system did not reveal evidence of any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.