Piper PA28 N5600U accident near Chickasha, Oklahoma

Probable cause

The student pilot's failure to maintain crosswind correction during landing and his subsequent loss of directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion and impact with uneven terrain.

NTSB analysis

The solo student pilot reported that, during approach to land, the airplane encountered turbulence and that he felt that the wind was from "more than one direction," and on final, he decided to use only two notches of flaps. He landed the airplane "slightly sideways," and it then veered right, exited the runway, and impacted a "small hump in the grass." He was afraid of tipping the airplane with too much left rudder, so he delayed applying left rudder until reaching the top of the hump.

The chief pilot reported that the student "lost control," that the airplane's right wing struck a runway sign, and that its left flap struck a runway light.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing.

The chief pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The airport's automated weather observation station reported that, about 5 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 230° at 10 knots, gusting to 16 knots. The student landed the airplane on runway 18.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA19CA512 for the full record.