N5815E – Cessna 172 – 2020-03-03 NTSB Accident Report

On March 03, 2020, a Cessna 172 (N5815E) was involved in an incident near Madison, IN. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

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

According to the flight instructor, during the third approach, he took the controls and informed the student that he would land the airplane. The airplane was configured with "minimal flaps" due to the gusting crosswind conditions. The instructor reported that during landing, the wind shifted from a quartering headwind, to a direct crosswind. The airplane bounced on touchdown and subsequently exited the right side of the runway. It entered the soft mud surface and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing lift strut.

The METAR at the accident airport reported that about the time of the accident, the wind was from 260° at 17 knots and gusting to 25 knots. The airplane landed on runway 21.

This incident is documented in NTSB report CEN20CA112. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N5815E.