Cessna 172 N5412D accident near Miami, Florida

Probable cause

The failure of the flight instructor to maintain the proper rate of descent during the aborted takeoff.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor stated that the accident flight was flight lesson 1 with the student and her first flight as a flight instructor. The winds were forecast to be variable at 4 knots and the flight taxied to the active runway to complete preflight tasks. After a normal engine run up, the flight was instructed to line-up and wait for a Cessna Caravan that had just departed. After being cleared for takeoff, the flight instructor initiated the takeoff roll and at 60 knots, rotated. When the flight was about 20 to 30 ft above the runway, they experienced a very strong rolling force to the left, which she attempted to correct with a considerable amount of right aileron and right rudder. She then reduced power to abort the takeoff, but the airplane impacted the runway hard and bounced twice, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. She taxied off the runway and the airplane was towed to the maintenance hangar.

A pilot who had flown the airplane earlier that day reported the airplane flew “ok” with no discrepancies reported.

The flight instructor reported and a post-accident examination corroborated that, there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA21LA320 for the full record.