Cessna 172N N4501E
17 December 2023 · Stephenville, Texas, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 17 December 2023 at about 16:46 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N4501E, operated by Optima Aviation LLC DBA N4501E, was involved in an accident near Stephenville, Texas, 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 16:46
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Stephenville, Texas, United States
- Nearest airport
- Stephenville Clark Regional Ai (SEP)
- Coordinates
- 32.2306, -98.1733
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N
- Registration
- N4501E
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 1978
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Optima Aviation LLC DBA N4501E
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Roanoke → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- CEN24LA071
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing that resulted in an impact with terrain.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The student pilot stated that when he entered the destination airport traffic pattern for landing, there were strong wind gusts that were not on the automated weather observing system report. He said the airplane’s descent during the approach was stable, so he decided to continue the approach for landing. He said that shortly after the airplane’s nose wheel landing gear touched down on the runway, the airplane caught a strong wind gust that resulted in a weathervane effect and a sharp change in its direction to the right. He then applied left rudder control input, but the airplane veered to the right and off the runway where it impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot stated there was no preaccident failures or malfunctions the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Cessna 172 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Feb 2023 | Cessna 172S | Princeton, Minnesota, United States | Twin Cities Flight Training, Inc | No injuries | - |
| 20 Nov 2023 | Cessna 172N | Blairstown, New Jersey, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 28 Jul 2023 | Cessna 172 | Trujillo, Peru | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 11 May 2023 | Cessna 172 | South Bethlehem, New York, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 3 Aug 2023 | Cessna 172 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | Tailwinds LLC | Minor injuries | - |
| 1 Jan 2023 | Cessna 172 | Watsonville, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
All 12,209 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 2023 | Beechcraft C23 | Gonzales, Texas, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 14 Mar 2023 | Bell APT70 | Mineral Wells, Texas, United States | Bell Textron Inc | No injuries | - |
| 1 Mar 2023 | Cessna 150F | Hillsboro, Texas, United States | - | Unknown | - |
| 14 May 2023 | Robinson R22 BETA | Brady, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 7 Aug 2023 | Taylorcraft F21 | Holliday, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 9 May 2023 | Cirrus SR22 | Midland, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |