NTSB ERA25LA213 — 2025-05-22 · Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States

Current FAA registration · N6317D

Make / Model: CESSNA 172N
Year of manufacture: 1979 · 46 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19790609
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A844C4

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N6317D Cessna 172N None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane while attempting to take off in a gusty crosswind, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The student pilot stated that he was attempting to take off in a left quartering crosswind with significant gusts. During the takeoff roll, the wind struck the airplane hard, and the pilot attempted to correct with rudder input, but overcompensated. The airplane then turned left into the wind and departed the paved runway surface before it impacted runway lights and terrain. The airplane’s fuselage and left wing strut were substantially damaged during the runway excursion. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of 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.

— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Response/compensation
— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_ERA25LA213.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

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Related research

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