Cessna 150M N704JD accident near Phoenix, Arizona

Probable cause

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a touch-and-go landing.

NTSB analysis

The student pilot had flown for 1 hour with her certified flight instructor (CFI) prior to the accident flight. After the completion of multiple takeoffs and touch-and-go landings, the CFI signed the student's logbook for solo flight and exited the airplane. The student pilot then completed an uneventful departure and touch-and-go landing. She flew the airplane in the traffic pattern for a second time with the intention of performing another touch-and-go landing. During the landing roll she retracted the flaps and applied full throttle and turned off the carburetor heat control. The airplane then began to swerve left and veered off the runway. The pilot attempted to correct the deviation but the airplane continued the left turn and crossed over an adjacent taxiway. Concerned the airplane would collide with a ditch, she applied heavy brake pressure, at which point the nose gear collapsed. During the accident sequence the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and firewall.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for LAX08CA257 for the full record.