Cessna 172F N5229F accident near Hemet, California

Probable cause

The flight instructor's improper decision to perform a precautionary landing on unsuitable terrain, which resulted in a noseover.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor reported that, during landing, he told the student pilot to initiate a go-around. During the climb, the instructor saw dust devils at the end of the runway, so he instructed the student to also initiate a slight left turn. The instructor then noticed power lines past the dust devils, so he took the controls from the student and continued a shallow, 200 ft-per-minute climbing left turn to the south. While turning the airplane, the instructor saw other power lines to the south, so he decided to initiate a precautionary soft-field landing to a plowed field adjacent to the runway. During landing, the nose landing gear touched down, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut and vertical stabilizer. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA19CA544 for the full record.