DEN04LA114

Factual narrative

On July 31, 2004, at approximately 1440 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N5426J, piloted by a student pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain after departing the runway during landing at Hurricane Airport, Hurricane, Utah. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The solo training flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The student pilot reported no injuries. The local flight originated at 1300. According to the accident report submitted by the student pilot, he was landing on runway 18 "too fast." The pilot wrote that he "lost control and veered off to the west" side of the runway. The right main landing gear was bent, the left wing tip and wing spar were bent up and the firewall was wrinkled. A postaccident examination of the airplane systems revealed no anomalies. The winds at St. George Municipal Airport, 14 nautical miles west of Hurricane, were reported as 260 degrees at 18 knots with gusts to 25 knots. The calculated crosswind component was between 19 and 25 knots. According to the Cessna Pilot Operating Handbook, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for this airplane is 15 knots. The student pilot said he landed "too fast", "lost control and veered off to the west" side of the runway, substantially damaging the airplane. A post accident examination of the airplane systems revealed no anomalies. The winds were reported as a direct crosswind at 18 knots with gusts to 25 knots. The crosswind component was calculated between 19 and 25 knots. According to the manufacturer's handbook, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for this airplane is 15 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12