Event CEN20CA039

Factual narrative

The student pilot was flying solo in the traffic pattern and had landed with the intention of performing a touch-and-go. During the takeoff, the airplane "veered heavily to the left." The student pilot attempted to correct the veer without success. The student pilot elected to land the airplane in the grass; the airplane bounced twice and then nosed over resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and rudder. The student pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations. The student pilot did not maintain directional control of the airplane during the touch-and-go. The solo student pilot was flying in the traffic pattern and was intending to perform a touch-and-go landing. During the takeoff, the airplane "veered heavily to the left." The student attempted to correct the veer without success. The student then chose to land the airplane on grassy terrain. During the landing, the airplane bounced twice and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing and the rudder. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Yaw control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Soft surface-Effect on operation - C