Accident Overview
A student pilot was conducting a solo cross-country flight when the accident occurred during the initial climb following a touch-and-go landing. Witnesses observed the airplane shortly after takeoff.
Witness Accounts
One witness reported that the airplane stalled at an estimated altitude of 150 feet, drifted to the left, and then impacted the ground. Another witness initially saw the airplane at approximately 350 feet and described it as appearing normal. After diverting his attention momentarily, he looked back and observed the airplane in a nose-low attitude. The airplane completed three to three and a half turns of a spin before disappearing from his view.
Post-Accident Examination
Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane struck the ground in a near-vertical attitude. The wing flaps were found extended to the full down position, corresponding to 30 degrees. Inspection of the flap selector/indicator assembly showed impact marks indicating that the flap selector handle was positioned at about 10 degrees, while the flap indicator position was near 30 degrees.
Prior Flap Discrepancy
The student pilot's flight instructor reported that five days before the accident, he encountered a discrepancy with the airplane's flap system. The instructor stated that when he moved the flap lever to retract the flaps from a 20-degree down position, neither the flaps nor the flap position indicator moved. He then reset the lever to the original position and tried again, and this time the flaps and indicator operated normally. The instructor did not report this discrepancy to maintenance personnel. The airplane was flown ten times between that flight and the accident flight without any reported recurrence of the discrepancy.