Cessna 172N N5371D accident near Poughkeepsie, New York

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control on the landing rollout.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot was conducting touch-and-go landings and full-stop landings at his home airport. The airplane touched down on the runway and started to veer left on the landing rollout. No crosswinds were present. The pilot stated, "I let the plane follow the path to the left, not wanting to over control it and having it tilt sideways or nose first into the grass. It struck the 3,000 foot sign on the side of the runway as it exited the runway, rolled out on the grass and came to a stop." The pilot indicated that he lost directional control of the airplane. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left horizontal stabilizer received structural damage; no anomalies were noted with the brakes or steering systems of the airplane.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA10CA244 for the full record.