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CEN12CA663

2012-09-29 · Goshen, Indiana, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KGSH

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's loss of directional control during takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The student pilot stated that he was practicing a soft field takeoff and as soon as the nose wheel lifted off from the runway, the airplane veered to the left. The student pilot tried to correct the turn by applying right rudder and aileron, but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the runway surface and came to rest nose down on a parallel taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine nose wheel area, both wings, and the fuselage. The student pilot did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. The student pilot stated that he was practicing a soft-field takeoff, and as soon as the nose wheel lifted off the runway, the airplane veered to the left. The student pilot tried to correct the left turn by applying right rudder and aileron but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the runway surface and came to rest, nose down on a parallel taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine nose wheel area, both wings, and the fuselage. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Student pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2012_CEN12CA663.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, runway excursion). All research papers