Cessna 172N N79514

Summary

On 1 April 2025 at about 23:45 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N79514 was involved in an accident near Hickory, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 April 2025 at 23:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Hickory, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Hickory Rgnl (HKY)

Coordinates

35.7434, -81.3796

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N79514

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA25LA164

1 person had minor injuries.

The student pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during an attempted go-around, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and collision with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After performing 3 takeoffs and landings in the airport traffic pattern with a flight instructor onboard, the student pilot departed on a solo flight. He subsequently performed two more landings, and during the landing flare of the third landing, a gusting crosswind struck the airplane. After touching down, the airplane began to drift to the left, so the pilot elected to abort the landing. After applying full throttle and establishing the airplane in a climb attitude, the pilot described that he, “…was unable to put in the correct level of inputs, triggering a stall left spin, landing nearly nose-down off the runway.” The airplane’s left wing was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot did not report that there were any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.