Cessna 172 N2166K accident near Phoenix, Arizona

Probable cause

The student pilot's excessive directional control inputs during the takeoff roll and the flight instructor's delayed and ineffective corrective actions, which resulted in the loss of airplane control.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor and the student pilot, accompanied by a passenger-observer, were conducting the instructional flight in one of their flight school's airplanes. The student pilot, who had a total flight time of 4 hours and for whom this was his fourth flight, was handling the controls. During the takeoff roll, his overcorrections caused the airplane to veer right and then left. After crossing the centerline from right to left and when the airplane was heading toward the left edge of the 100-ft-wide runway, the flight instructor took the controls but was unable to maintain airplane control. He attempted to lift off, and the airplane became airborne momentarily, but the nose dropped, the airplane banked right, and it then struck the runway. The airplane nosed over inverted and came to a stop. The pilots reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR13LA180 for the full record.