NTSB CEN21LA120 — 2021-01-29 · Clare, Michigan, United States

Current FAA registration · N22101

Make / Model: CESSNA 172M
Year of manufacture: 1974 · 47 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19740930
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A1E72A

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N22101 Cessna 172 None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing that resulted in a runway excursion and impact with terrain.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that while landing following a solo cross-country flight, the airplane touched down about 500 feet beyond the runway threshold and slightly left of the runway centerline. As he continued the landing rollout, the airplane “drifted” left, and the left main landing gear caught the runway edge. The airplane then veered left off the runway, nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, left wing, left wing strut, and fuselage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_CEN21LA120.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

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