NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA21LA331
Registry · N62LU
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 172R
Year of manufacture
1998 · 23 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19980710
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A814F1
Registrant of record
LOUISVILLE AIRCRAFT LEASING LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
A loss of directional on takeoff for reasons that could not be determined.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor and student were attempting to takeoff with the student as pilot flying. The student said the airplane was pulling left and the flight instructor told him to counteract it with right rudder, but it did not seem to help. The student then applied full right rudder and he said it felt like something released and the steering overcorrected to the right. The flight instructor immediately took control, but the airplane subsequently impacted a sign, which resulted in substantial damage to the lower fuselage and empennage. A post-accident examination of the airplane’s flight controls revealed no mechanical anomalies. The instructor reported that the airplane had no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures 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-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2021_ERA21LA331.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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