ATL04LA040

Factual narrative

On November 22, 2003, at 1803 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172, N61924, registered to and operated by a certified flight instructor (CFI), veered off the runway during an attempted landing at Hickory Regional Airport, Hickory, North Carolina. The instructional flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan on file. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The CFI, the student pilot, and the two other occupants were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Mount Airy Surry County Airport, Mount, Airy, North Carolina, on November 22, 2003 at 1700. The purpose of the flight night cross country flight was to fulfill the private pilot requirements in accordance with CFR 14 Part 61.109. The en route portion of the flight to the destination airport was uneventful. Upon arriving at the destination airport, the flight was cleared for a touch and go landing on runway 24. Runway 24 at Hickory Regional Airport is 6400 long and 150 feet wide. The airplane touched down within the first third of the runway. During the touch and go procedure, the airplane touched down, rolled about 1400 feet. The airplane started to veer to the right of center line and the CFI told the student pilot " let's get out of here". The CFI applied the throttle for the "go" phase of the touch and go procedure. According to the student pilot he relinquished control of the airplane, but did not inform the CFI, because "he saw and felt the CFI on the controls". According to the he CFI, he applied left rudder to maintain directional control, but the left rudder was unresponsive. Efforts by the CFI to control the airplane's movement were unsuccessful. The airplane continued off the runway surface into the grass, crossed a taxiway and nosed over. In a written statement by the student pilot, he stated that he applied both brakes as the aircraft veered off the right side of the runway. The CFI reported no mechanical problems with the airplane. The post-accident examination of the wreckage at the accident site revealed that the airplane nosed over and came to rest on a 120 degree magnetic heading, and north of taxiway alpha. The nose wheel was located approximately 45 feet from the main wreckage. Examination of the wreckage revealed both wings had leading edge and spar damage. The on-scene examination of the normal brake system, nose wheel assembly, rudder controls and all related systems, failed to disclose a mechanical malfunctions or component failure. According to the Federal Aviation Administration Medical Records Division the CFI was issued a third class medical with no restrictions on September 25, 2004. Upon arriving at the destination airport, the flight was cleared for a touch-and-go landing. During the go phase of the first landing, the student pilot relinquished the flight controls without coordinating the exchange with the certified flight instructor. The airplane veered to the right, but efforts by the CFI to correct the right drift were unsuccessful. The airplane continued off the runway surface and nosed over into the grass. The post-accident examination of the airplane wreckage revealed that both wings had leading edge and spar damage. The on-scene examination of the normal wheel brake system, nose wheel assembly, rudder controls and related system failed to disclose a mechanical malfunction or component failure. The CFI did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12