What happened
On August 7, 2019, a student pilot was performing his first solo flight in a Diamond DA20, registration N979DA. After completing three approaches and landings, the pilot encountered a right yaw during the third approach.
In an attempt to correct the yaw, the pilot applied left rudder but was unable to maintain the centerline. At approximately 15 feet above ground level, the pilot aborted the landing and applied full engine power. However, the aircraft continued to descend while maintaining the right yaw. The airplane touched down on the runway with the nose oriented to the right of the runway heading, subsequently exited the right side of the runway, and came to a stop after encountering rough terrain.
There were no injuries resulting from the accident. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the tail and empennage.
At the time of the accident, weather conditions were VMC with 10 statute mile visibility and variable winds at 4 knots.