What happened
The aircraft experienced a loss of control while attempting to land in crosswind conditions. According to the student pilot's account, they utilized a crabbed flight path into the wind to compensate for the lateral drift during the final approach phase.
Upon touchdown, the aircraft remained in this crabbed orientation rather than being aligned with the runway centerline. This misalignment caused the plane to travel off the right side of the runway surface. During this excursion, the right wing struck a tetrahedron marker, and the nose gear subsequently hit a ditch, resulting in the aircraft nosing over.
The investigation
The primary focus of the examination was the pilot's technique during the final approach. The investigation confirmed that the student pilot maintained a crabbed attitude through touchdown instead of using coordinated rudder and aileron inputs to align the aircraft with the runway prior to contact.