What happened
On 12 March 2017, a student pilot was conducting a second solo consolidation flight at Oudtshoorn Aerodrome (FAOH) in a Cessna 172S, registration ZS-FIA. Following a landing on Runway 22, the pilot exited the runway at taxiway exit 2. Air traffic control observed the aircraft vacating the runway at an excessive speed.
As the aircraft continued at this high velocity, it veered off the paved taxiway and entered a patch of bush-type terrain. While the pilot attempted to maneuver the aircraft back onto the taxiway, the propeller struck a large rock that had been hidden by vegetation. The impact caused substantial damage to the propeller, and smaller rocks also damaged the wheel spats. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries resulting from the incident.
The investigation
An investigation by the SACAA AIID established that the pilot was a student authorized to conduct the flight but possessed very limited experience on this specific aircraft type, with only 2.1 hours of flight time on the model. The investigation confirmed that the aircraft's braking system was fully functional and that the flight was being conducted under favorable meteorological conditions, with visibility exceeding 10km and light winds.
Investigators determined that the pilot failed to reduce the aircraft's speed to a safe taxi velocity before departing the runway surface. The damage to the propeller was directly attributed to the impact with a rock obscured by ground vegetation.