CEN18LA346 · Cessna 172 L

The student pilot was departing on a solo cross-country flight when she observed a decrease in climb performance and airspeed shortly after takeoff. She reduced airplane pitch to increase airspeed and avoid an aerodynamic stall. Although the engine continued to operate normally at full throttle, the pilot concluded that there was an engine issue because she was unable to maintain a normal climb pitch attitude without a decrease in airspeed. She told the tower controller that she was going to land and made an immediate turn near midfield to land on a crossing runway. She stated that, after aligning with the crossing runway, the airplane's airspeed had increased to 95-100 knots and that the airplane was too high to make a normal landing. She reduced engine power to idle and attempted to glide to the runway; however, the airplane landed in a grassy area past the end of the runway and bounced three times before the nose gear collapsed.

The pilot acknowledged after the accident that the engine did not malfunction during the flight and postulated that the airplane had encountered a wingtip vortex from another airplane. However, a review of available air traffic control radar track data did not identify any departing or landing aircraft during the 15 minutes before the accident that would have resulted in a wake turbulence encounter. Additionally, the postaccident examination of the airplane's flight controls and engine did not reveal any evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. Based on the pilot's statement and the lack of any evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure, it is likely that she overshot the runway after her misperception of an engine issue due to her failure to maintain proper pitch control during initial climb.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset