N8159U – Cessna 172 – 2019-05-14 NTSB Accident Report

On May 14, 2019, a Cessna 172 (N8159U) was involved in an incident near Tomball, TX. All 1 person aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing with a left crosswind, which resulted in a runway excursion and subsequent nose-over.

The student pilot reported that, during landing, he made flight control and power setting inputs to compensate for a left crosswind. Shortly after touch down, the nose wheel "violently shimmied" so he applied back pressure on the control yoke and the airplane began to roll and yaw to the right. The pilot reacted with left rudder control and the nose wheel began to shimmy again. The airplane travelled toward the left edge of the runway and the pilot made the decision to apply heavy braking. The airplane encountered soft soil and subsequently nosed over coming to a stop inverted.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings.

The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

This incident is documented in NTSB report GAA19CA269. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N8159U.