NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA19CA122
Registry · N734AY
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 172N
Year of manufacture
1977 · 42 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19770228
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A9D9FE
Registrant of record
J A MEGNA AIRCRAFT LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The student pilot's failure to control the airplane's speed and direction during the approach, which resulted in landing long, a runway excursion, and impact with a windsock.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that during a solo cross-country flight, she landed with a crosswind from the right, without flaps. During landing, the airplane's airspeed was fast, so she aborted the landing. However, her airplane was "very close" to traffic in front which had also aborted their landing. She decided to continue the landing but landed long. She then tried to exit the runway at the last available intersection, but the airplane ran off the left side of the runway and the left wing impacted a windsock. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The student pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot reported that, during a solo cross-country flight, she landed with a crosswind from the right without flaps. During landing, the airplane's airspeed was fast, so she aborted the landing. However, her airplane was "very close" to another airplane in front of her and that pilot had also aborted their landing. She decided to continue the landing but landed long. She then tried to exit the runway at the last available intersection, but the airplane ran off the left side of the runway, and the left wing impacted a windsock. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The student 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
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
- C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Wind sock-Effect on operation - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2019_GAA19CA122.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 or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- 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.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2019 · Accident report
Embraer ERJ 175 Runway Excursion at Charlotte Douglas
Republic Airline ERJ-175 runway excursion CLT, January 2018. Examines a low-energy runway excursion involving misuse of autobrakes + thrust reverser response after a high-crosswind landing on a contam…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation
Uncovering Resilient Behavior in the Aviation Safety Reporting System Using Large Language Models
Resiliency is present in everyday life, both in system design and exhibited by the operators that function within these systems.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
Uncovering Resilient Behavior in the Aviation Safety Reporting System Using Large Language Models
Resiliency is present in everyday life, both in system design and exhibited by the operators that function within these systems.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗