No fatalities

Student Pilot Experiences Right Yaw During First Solo Landing

Pueblo, CO, United States

On August 7, 2019, a Diamond DA20 C1 operated by Doss Aviation Inc was involved in an aviation accident near Pueblo, CO. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The student pilot's failure to maintain the runway heading during an attempted aborted landing, which resulted in a runway excursion onto rough terrain. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 14 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1785761257Data APIEditorial standards

A student pilot on his first solo flight encountered an uncontrolled right yaw during a go-around, leading to a runway excursion and substantial tail damage.

Event Description

The student pilot, on his first solo flight, completed three approaches and three landings. During the third approach, the airplane's nose yawed to the right. The pilot applied left rudder to correct the yaw but was unsuccessful. At about 15 feet above ground level (AGL), he aborted the landing and applied full engine power. However, the aircraft "jerked and continued to descend with right yaw." The airplane subsequently landed on the runway with the nose oriented to the right of the runway heading, exited the right side of the runway, and came to a stop after encountering rough terrain.

Aircraft Damage

The sustained substantial damage to the tail and empennage.

Weather Information

A METAR from the accident airport reported that, around the time of the accident, the wind was variable at 4 knots.

Pilot Report

The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Contributing factors

Student/instructed pilotHeading/course — Not attained/maintainedEffect on operation