WPR19LA204

Factual narrative

On July 29, 2019, about 0632 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 162 light sport airplane, N30321, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Vernal, Utah. The flight instructor and student pilot were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor stated that he was demonstrating a soft field takeoff for the student pilot. After competing the soft field procedure, he proceeded to show the student pilot the differences between the best angle of climb (Vx) and the best rate of climb (Vy). When he established Vx, he saw a gray streak out of the corner of his eye and “immediately pitched up to avoid a wildlife strike.” The engine lost power and the instructor pitched the airplane forward to lower the angle of attack; he did not recall anything further. The student pilot reported that the instructor started to take off. The airplane lifted off the runway and increased speed close to the ground when the instructor pulled the control stick back abruptly and the airplane climbed at an extreme angle of attack. After a few seconds of going straight up, the airplane slowed and it felt as if the airplane stalled; however, the stall warning horn never sounded. The instructor then pushed the nose down. As they rapidly approached the ground, the instructor pulled up; the airplane impacted the ground and bounced from one side of the runway to the other before it came to a rest. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane going straight up into the air. It appeared to stall and fly straight down to the ground. The airplane leveled off shortly before it impacted the ground and bounced. On-scene examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed propeller striations on the runway surface. He was unable to locate any blood, feathers, or other evidence of a bird strike on the airplane. There was a hole in the windscreen, but none of the windscreen pieces were found within the cabin area, and there was no evidence of impact with a bird on the windscreen or within the cabin area. Two different types of bird feathers were observed in the grass surrounding the runway surface and were sent to the Smithsonian Institution Feather Identification Lab. The feathers were from a Eurasian Collared Dove and Western Meadowlark; the feathers were dry. A postaccident airframe and engine examination revealed no anomalies. The flight instructor stated that he was demonstrating a soft field takeoff for the student pilot. While climbing away from the runway at best angle of climb, he saw a gray streak out of the corner of his eye and “immediately pitched up to avoid a wildlife strike.” The engine lost power and the pilot quickly pitched forward to lower the angle of attack; he did not recall anything further. The student reported that the airplane lifted off the runway and increased speed close to the ground when the flight instructor pulled the control stick back abruptly and the airplane climbed at an extreme angle of attack. After a few seconds of going straight up, it felt as if the airplane stalled; however, the stall warning horn never sounded. The flight instructor then pushed the nose down. As they rapidly approached the ground, the flight instructor pulled up, but the airplane impacted the ground and bounced before it came to rest.   An on-scene examination revealed propeller striations on the runway surface and no indications of a birdstrike on the airframe or runway. Two different types of bird feathers were found near the runway shortly after the accident, but they were dry and likely present prior to the accident. A postaccident airframe and engine examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Damage to the propeller blades and the striations on the runway were consistent with the engine producing power at the time of impact. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the flight instructor’s abrupt maneuvering of the airplane at an altitude too low to recover and subsequent impact with the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot
• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Instructor/check pilot