Cessna 172 N478ER

Summary

On 3 June 2020 at about 16:45 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N478ER was involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada, 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

3 June 2020 at 16:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

North Las Vegas Airport (VGT)

Coordinates

36.2103, -115.1956

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N478ER

Category

Airplane

Year built

1998

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Las Vegas → Las Vegas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20CA167

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during a soft-field takeoff and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.

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 the instructional flight with the student pilot on the controls to practice a soft-field takeoff, the airplane started turning to the left "drastically" shortly after the airplane became airborne. The student told the flight instructor that he could not control the airplane, so the instructor assumed control to try and realign the airplane to runway centerline and re-touch down to abort the takeoff. Despite the flight instructors control inputs, the airplane continued to veer left and exited the left side of the runway. The airplane collided with the terrain substantially damaging the left wing. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.      

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.