Cessna 172 N2166K

Summary

On 4 April 2013 at about 16:30 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N2166K, operated by Westwind School of Aeronautics, was involved in an accident near Phoenix, Arizona, United States. 3 people were 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

4 April 2013 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Deer Valley (DVT)

Coordinates

33.6867, -112.0917

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N2166K

Category

Airplane

Year built

2005

Engines

1

Operator

Westwind School of Aeronautics

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Phoenix

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13LA180

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's excessive directional control inputs during the takeoff roll and the flight instructor's delayed and ineffective corrective actions, which resulted in the loss of airplane control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the student pilot, accompanied by a passenger-observer, were conducting the instructional flight in one of their flight school's airplanes. The student pilot, who had a total flight time of 4 hours and for whom this was his fourth flight, was handling the controls. During the takeoff roll, his overcorrections caused the airplane to veer right and then left. After crossing the centerline from right to left and when the airplane was heading toward the left edge of the 100-ft-wide runway, the flight instructor took the controls but was unable to maintain airplane control. He attempted to lift off, and the airplane became airborne momentarily, but the nose dropped, the airplane banked right, and it then struck the runway. The airplane nosed over inverted and came to a stop. The pilots reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.