What happened
The incident occurred while a student pilot was conducting practice touch-and-go landing operations. The aircraft landed on a runway that was only 150 feet wide. During the rollout phase after touchdown, the pilot lost directional control of the airplane as it began to veer toward the edge of the paved surface.
The student pilot later explained that he hesitated to make corrective steering inputs because he feared that attempting to correct the ground track would cause the aircraft to tumble. Consequently, the airplane rolled off the runway and collided with a dirt berm that was 1.5 feet high, resulting in a nose-over attitude.
The investigation
Post-accident examination revealed that the narrow width of the runway contributed significantly to the difficulty of maintaining directional control during the rollout. The pilot's decision to avoid corrective steering due to fear of loss of control led directly to the departure from the runway environment.
Findings
The primary factors leading to this accident were the student pilot's inadequate mastery of crosswind or narrow-runway landing techniques and his failure to maintain directional control during the rollout. The restricted width of the runway exacerbated the situation, leaving little margin for error. The pilot's apprehension regarding potential tumbling prevented timely correction, allowing the aircraft to drift off the pavement.