Pilot Debrief

Cessna 172 near Ft Worth, TX — 2020-04-22

Final reportCEN20CA154
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Date
2020-04-22
Location
Ft Worth, TX, USA
Airport
T67
Aircraft
Cessna 172
Registration
N13005
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The student pilot’s failure to maintain a stabilized approach and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action to initiate a go-around, which resulted in a runway overrun and impact with runway lights and fences.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that he and the student pilot were prepared to land on runway 14 with partial flaps and reported wind from 190° at 17 knots. When they turned onto final approach, the instructor noticed that the airplane was too high and not aligned with the runway and that the airspeed was high. As the airplane approached the touchdown point, it encountered turbulence. The instructor took control of the airplane and executed a right-wing-low partial slip. The airplane touched down halfway down the 3,740-ft-long runway with a high ground speed. The instructor applied the brakes, and the wheels immediately locked, so he released the brakes and then tried reapplying them; however, the airplane did not decelerate. The airplane overran the runway and struck several airport lights and then traveled through two barbed-wire fences. The right main landing gear separated, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer sustained substantial damage. After the instructor and student exited the airplane, they noticed that the windsock indicated that they had landed with a strong quartering tailwind. The instructor said that the accident was due to the "undetected shift in wind direction - from a quartering headwind to a quartering/direct tailwind" and he and the student's incorrect decision to continue the approach and landing when the airplane was not stabilized.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Controlled flight into terrain
First missed decision gate
Decision to continue approach despite being too high and not aligned with the runway.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 2 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents2

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