NTSB WPR24LA191 — 2024-05-18 · Prescott, Arizona, United States

Current FAA registration · N17304

Make / Model: CESSNA 172S
Year of manufacture: 2007 · 17 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING IO-360-L2A (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20071204
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A126C7

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N17304 Cessna 172S None

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing following an aborted takeoff which resulted in a runway excursion and impact with a ditch.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that during a takeoff, while about 3 to 5 ft above the ground, a couple of birds flew across the windscreen. The student pilot aborted the takeoff to land on the remaining runway. The airplane descended onto the runway and veered to the left, exited the runway, across the taxiway and impacted a ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the right horizontal stabilizer. The student pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot
— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_WPR24LA191.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.

Related research

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