GAA17CA014
2016-10-06 · Phoenix, Arizona, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport IWA
Current FAA registration · N602ND
- Make / Model
- CESSNA 172S
- Year of manufacture
- 2012 · 4 years old at event
- Engine
- LYCOMING IO-360-L2A (180 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 4 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 20121121
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A7CFDD
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The flight instructor’s delayed remedial action, which resulted in his failure to maintain directional control during a go-around and a runway excursion.
Factual narrative
The operator reported that during a training flight, the flight instructor attempted a go-around on runway 30 right. When power was applied, the airplane yawed to the left, struck a runway remaining sign, and bounced off the ground. The flight instructor moved the throttle to idle, the airplane settled to the ground and rolled onto runway 30 center, and stopped. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the aft fuselage bulkhead and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The operator reported that, during a training flight, the flight instructor attempted a go-around on runway 30 right. When power was applied, the airplane yawed to the left, struck a runway remaining sign, and bounced off the ground. The flight instructor moved the throttle to idle, and the airplane settled to the ground and rolled onto runway 30 center and then stopped. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the aft fuselage bulkhead and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with 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.
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot - C
- C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Sign/marker-Effect on operation - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2016_GAA17CA014.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
- Kathryn's Report Aviation press ↗
- Aviation Herald Aviation press ↗
- AVweb Aviation press ↗
- Pilots of America Community ↗
- Reddit /r/flying Community ↗
- FlightAware Aviation press ↗
- AOPA accident database Aviation press ↗
- Google News News ↗
- DuckDuckGo News ↗
Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion, go-around). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2023 · Reprint (Version printed in journal) Finite Element Simulation of Three Full-Scale Crash Tests for Cessna 172 Aircraft
The NASA Emergency Locator Transmitter Survivability and Reliability project was initiated in 2013 to assess the crash performance standards for the next generation of emergency locator transmitter (E…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Crash Testing and Simulation of a Cessna 172 Aircraft: Pitch Down Impact Onto Soft Soil
During the summer of 2015, NASA Langley Research Center conducted three full-scale crash tests of Cessna 172 (C-172) aircraft at the NASA Langley Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) Facility.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM) Simulating the Impact Response of Three Full-Scale Crash Tests of Cessna 172 Aircraft
During the summer of 2015, a series of three full-scale crash tests were performed at the Landing and Impact Research Facility located at NASA Langley Research Center of Cessna 172 aircraft.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article Runway Excursion — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary runway excursion review — RE-OE (overruns) + RE-LO (lateral). Risk drivers: long landing, high approach speed, contaminated surface, tailwind, mis-set autobrakes.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…