NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN23LA179
Registry · N34BL
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 172S
Year of manufacture
2020 · 3 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING IO-360-L2A (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20200327
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A3BB19
Registrant of record
AMERICAN ASSET LEASING LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s decision to adjust his seat during taxi, which resulted in his seat sliding aft, and subsequent loss of directional control.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he attempted to adjust his seat while taxing the airplane. The seat slid aft, and he was unable to reach the rudder pedals. The airplane traversed across a taxiway, impacted a swale, then continued onto a runway before the pilot was able to regain control. The airplane’s rudder and lower aft fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilot reported there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions 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).
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action sequence-Pilot
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- — Aircraft-Aircraft handling/service-Towing and taxiing-Taxiing-Incorrect use/operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2023_CEN23LA179.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2016 · Conference paper
Early Morning Concurrent Session: Aviation Management and Operations: Presentation: Analysis of Factors Related to True Airspeed (TAS) Calculation Utilizing the Handicap Procedure for the 2015 Women's Air Race Classic
In most post-WWII cross country air racing events, the “handicap” method of determining race scoring is utilized. A typical example is the Women’s Air Race Classic transcontinental annual competition.…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2015 · Conference paper
Approach Stability from FDM Data
The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott Campus maintains a fleet of twenty four aircraft, which includes sixteen Cessna 172S NavIII and four Diamond DA42NG equipped with flight data monitori…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗