Probable cause
The student pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during climb and subsequent impact with terrain.
NTSB analysis
The student pilot and his flight instructor completed three touch-and-go landings before the student pilot departed on a solo flight. The student performed two uneventful full-stop landings. He reported that on the third takeoff, after reaching an altitude of 100 – 200 ft above ground level, the airplane yawed and rolled to the left. He was unable to maintain control of the airplane and subsequently performed a forced landing on a baseball field. The airplane contacted a drainage ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage.
Postaccident examination of the airplane flight control system revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal airplane operation.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN20LA425 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Sep 29, 2020
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Spring, Texas
- Nearest airport
- David Wayne Hooks Memorial Air (DWH)
- Highest injury
- Minor
- Minor injuries
- 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Cessna 172N
- N-number
- N75634
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 1976
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.