Event GAA19CA269

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that, during landing, he made flight control and power setting inputs to compensate for a left crosswind. Shortly after touch down, the nose wheel "violently shimmied" so he applied back pressure on the control yoke and the airplane began to roll and yaw to the right. The pilot reacted with left rudder control and the nose wheel began to shimmy again. The airplane travelled toward the left edge of the runway and the pilot made the decision to apply heavy braking. The airplane encountered soft soil and subsequently nosed over coming to a stop inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The solo student pilot reported that, during landing, he made flight control and power setting inputs to compensate for a left crosswind. He added that, shortly after touchdown, the nosewheel "violently shimmied," so he applied back pressure on the control yoke, and the airplane began "to roll and yaw to the right." The student applied left rudder control, and the nosewheel began to shimmy again. The airplane travelled toward the left edge of the runway, and the student decided to apply heavy braking. The airplane encountered soft soil and subsequently nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. 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 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-Student/instructed pilot - C
• C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation - C