2011-11 · NASA ASRS report 979258
Student pilot on first solo in C-172 has runway excursion while attempting touch and go. Aircraft examination later reveals loose; but within specifications; rudder cables.
The event occurred during my first solo. My instructor had told me to do three takeoffs and landings; the first one to a full stop and the second one an optional touch-and-go. I had already done the first landing and just completed the second one. I prepared to takeoff (raised flaps and reconfigured) immediately again for a touch-and-go when I lost control and the plane steered in a sharp turn on the ground to the left side.At that time I had almost reached rotation airspeed. I can't recollect at which specific step the sudden turn occurred; but after my instructor asked me; it could have happened while I looked down at the trim control; I don't remember. The plane left Runway XXR and crossed Runway XXL; then entered the grassy peripheral area. Luckily; the plane did not tip or hit anything and I could stop it. I was not hurt myself either. I was allowed to taxi it back to the parking area after the airport staff and FBO didn't find any apparent damage. My understanding after the plane was inspected by the mechanics is that the following things were found: The rudder cables were found to have low tension. It was within specifications; but caused reduced effectiveness. The rudder trim tab was not straight in a way aggravating the left-turning tendency.My instructor and I concluded after a discussion that the rudder trim and the trim tab made the plane harder to operate for a student and that a touch-and-go is too much workload on a first solo flight. Removing either one of these factors probably would have avoided the situation.
This event occurred during my student's first solo flight. I had obtained permission to observe from the Control Tower.I had told my student to make 3 trips around the pattern in a Cessna 172. The first landing was to be a full stop. I said the second could optionally be a touch-and-go if he felt that it was safe to do so.The first two times around the right traffic pattern for Runway XXR were uneventful. After the second landing on XXR; I observed the flaps coming up as expected. I heard the power coming up for the touch-and-go. At that point; the aircraft departed Runway XXR to the left into the grass. Initially; I thought he was headed near the barriers surrounding the wind sock; but as the left turn continued; he turned before and missed all those obstacles. My concern at that point was that he did not appear to be removing the takeoff power. He continued across Runway XXL at about a 45 degree angle. I only observed obvious deceleration as he was approaching the fence on the far; usually unused; side of the airport. He brought it to a stop without hitting anything.The Tower controllers asked if he was ok. To my relief; he said he was. The controllers asked me to wait where I was until the airport staff reached the aircraft. I followed their instructions. When they released me; I drove my car along the perimeter road as instructed to where the plane was. After verifying my student was ok; I checked the propeller and looked at the exterior condition of the aircraft. There was no apparent damage.Airport staff checked the runways; finding no debris or damage. We were informed that NTSB was not interested in the event; so we could move the aircraft. Since it's a rental aircraft; we decided to give the FBO the option whether to tow or taxi it. They came and looked it over. Upon finding no damage; they allowed my student to taxi it back to its parking space. He properly got clearances to taxi across the runways and back to parking. A Mechanic then took it to the hangar for an inspection.The decision to solo this student: I understand that any problem on a first solo flight automatically points questions to the Instructor (me) about the training of that student and the decision to solo the student. This student had; at the time of first solo; a total time of 25 hours; 18 of which were in the past 90 days. All the training items required in FAR 61.87(d) were satisfactorily done. I had made the decision to solo the student the previous day when he flew me 5 times around the pattern unassisted; including multitasking the radio communications with Tower. Two of the 5 landings were touch-and-goes. Even the student recognized his own progress; which is not always the case for first solo flights.This was not my first solo endorsement. However; it was my first time soloing a student whom I had taught from zero hours. The student is a friend and was aware of that.Factor #1: change of aircraft. The student had done most; but not all of his training in another Cessna 172 which he preferred to use. The preferred plane was not available because it was reserved all morning for a check ride. He had flown under my instruction before in the event airplane; most recently 5 days earlier on a day with strong crosswinds for crosswind practice.After the event; the Mechanic checked the rudder cables among other things. They were sagging onto the floor of the empennage; indicating low tension and possible reduced effectiveness. Though it turned out they were within specs. So that called into question why the rudder trim had been set all the way to one side. We realized that if it wasn't necessary; then its setting would aggravate the plane's left-turning tendency. The Mechanic set the rudder trim back to neutral.Considering the timing of the plane's departure from the runway; I have a suspicion that the student may have looked down to adjust or re-adjust the pitch trim. Though I don't know for sure; I think this probably began in a heads-down check such as the trim and then he froze rather than react quickly to the situation. He told me he does not recall the exact moment and I'm not surprised; since traumatic events can interrupt the brain's processing of short term memories into long term memories.Conclusions: This event has convinced me that a touch-and-go on first solo is a really bad idea. Of all the other things going on; it adds fast-paced reconfiguration which unnecessarily complicates the first solo. First solos should be kept simple. Removing the touch-and-go would certainly have avoided this event.The other issue was the last minute plane change; resulting in use of a plane with possible controllability issues due to the rudder trim. It may have made this plane a handful for a student pilot.Going forward; there are some lessons learned. I will never forget this and will never assign a touch-and-go on first solo again. The event airplane had its rudder trim set to neutral and is probably solved; but it will have to pass my own testing before I let a student solo in that plane again.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.