The pilot reported that, he initiated a landing on a highway near a remote town in Oregon for lunch.
After touchdown, the Cessna 172 veered left, and he applied full right rudder, but the airplane exited the roadway surface and hit terrain.
The airplane nosed over, and the right wing lift strut and empennage sustained substantial damage.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing on a highway, which resulted in an impact with terrain and subsequent nose over.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This June 2021 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
First of all, I’m an A&P and had a C172 that I restored. I don’t know of any single engine Cessnas that use bunglee type material connected to the steering. The type I’ve seen used is a cylinder which has a spring inside to control the steering.
FYI.
BILLS
I noticed that the full report was rather lite on details. “This veered left” in my case in a Cardinal RG was because the bungee like stuff that connects the rudder peddles to the nose gear had suddenly broken allowing the nose gear to just swing left. Thankfully we were slowed down enough that I could get it stopped before we ran off the side of the runway.
The pilot in this case may not have known that the steering connection had broken. So saying “The pilot reported that there were no preaccident [sic] mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.” may have been wrong. That cord could have broken just as the nose gear touched down.
Granted with an RG vs. Fixed gear there is a bit more going on, but still, Cessna nose wheel steering is done with rubberish links similar to a bungee, vs a “hard” connection of a Piper.