Cessna 172F N5229F

Summary

On 12 September 2019 at about 22:20 local time, a Cessna 172F registered N5229F, operated by United States Air Force Owner, was involved in an accident near Hemet, California, United States. 2 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

12 September 2019 at 22:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Hemet, California, United States

Nearest airport

Hemet-Ryan (HMT)

Coordinates

33.7278, -117.0306

Aircraft

Cessna 172F

Registration

N5229F

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

United States Air Force Owner

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Riverside → Hemet

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA19CA544

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's improper decision to perform a precautionary landing on unsuitable terrain, which resulted in a noseover. 

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that, during landing, he told the student pilot to initiate a go-around. During the climb, the instructor saw dust devils at the end of the runway, so he instructed the student to also initiate a slight left turn. The instructor then noticed power lines past the dust devils, so he took the controls from the student and continued a shallow, 200 ft-per-minute climbing left turn to the south. While turning the airplane, the instructor saw other power lines to the south, so he decided to initiate a precautionary soft-field landing to a plowed field adjacent to the runway. During landing, the nose landing gear touched down, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut and vertical stabilizer. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.