Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The failure of the student to recover (pull-up) from the intentional maneuver resulting in the in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the ostentatious display by the student.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On January 31, 1998, about 1115 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172N, N738YK, registered to the Valdosta Flying Service, Inc., dba Holland Flying Service, collided with terrain about 10 miles southeast of the Valdosta Regional Airport, Valdosta, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 45 minutes earlier from the Valdosta Regional Airport.
The student pilot stated that he flew low over his father who was on a tractor near the field where the airplane crashed. He then climbed to about 3,000 feet and performed a departure stall, then entered a descending spiral and became disoriented. He did not recover from that maneuver until impact with terrain. The student had been previously warned by his flight instructor not to "...buzz anyone", based on an earlier admission by the student that he buzzed someone on an earlier flight. The student pilot also stated that there was no airframe or engine preimpact failure or malfunction.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# MIA98LA063