N2097G

On October 31, 2006, approximately 1450 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172S, N2097G, nosed over after inadvertently departing the runway during the landing roll at Richfield Municipal Airport, Richfield, Utah. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned by Mountain Air Aviation LLC, and operated by Cornerstone Aviation, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 solo cross-country instructional flight, which departed Provo, Utah, about 90 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. The pilot was on a VFR flight plan. There was no report of an ELT activation.

According to the student pilot, his first approach was too high, and because he thought he would be landing long, he elected to execute a go-around. During his second attempt, he noticed that there were gusty crosswinds near the ground, but he felt that they were of a magnitude that he would be able to handle. The second approach and initial touchdown were without incident, but soon after the beginning of the landing roll, the aircraft was hit by a gust of wind from the right. The gust pushed the aircraft toward the left side of the runway and lifted its right wing. Although the pilot attempted corrective action, he was unable to keep the aircraft from departing the left side of the paved runway surface and entering an area of soft terrain. While he was attempting to get the aircraft back onto the runway, it encountered a mound/berm of dirt, and flipped over onto its back.

According to the student pilot, there was no evidence of any flight control or nose wheel steering problems. He further stated that the only problem was his inability to compensate for the gusty crosswind conditions.