Skip to content

CEN21LA392

2021-08-26 · Olive Branch, Mississippi, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport OLV

Current FAA registration · N12573

Make / Model
CESSNA 172M
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19730822
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A069AE

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing with a direct crosswind that resulted in an impact with terrain.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he was landing following a cross-country flight that originated from the same airport earlier that day. During the landing touchdown and using flight control inputs to compensate for a crosswind, the airplane bounced. The pilot let out the rudder correction and the nose swung to the left. The wind got under the left wing and lifted it. The pilot attempted to correct by inadvertently using right aileron and right rudder when he should have used left aileron and right rudder. When the airplane touched down again it went off the left side of the runway. The airplane received substantial damage to the engine mount. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations. At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing the airplane on runway 18 with wind from 100o at 8 knots. The pilot reported he should have just performed a go-around. 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-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_CEN21LA392.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 (go-around). All research papers