Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On April 19, 2022, about 1130 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N airplane, N711DA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Centennial, Colorado. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The flight instructor stated that she and the student pilot were cleared for a straight-in approach to runway 28 at Centennial Airport (APA), Centennial, Colorado, after having practiced several maneuvers. The student pilot landed the airplane on the runway under her supervision. After touchdown, the airplane began veering right of the centerline as its speed began to slow. The student pilot attempted to apply left rudder input to counter the veer to the right, but the airplane continued to veer to the right. The flight instructor then took control of the airplane and applied left rudder and the brakes, but the right veering continued. The flight instructor reported hearing a rumbling noise from the nosewheel at this point and added back pressure to keep the nose off the ground. The airplane’s nosewheel then hit a taxiway sign before the airplane came to rest in a ditch.

A postaccident visual examination of the brakes, nosewheel steering, and flight controls revealed no abnormalities or defects that would have precluded normal operation.


The flight instructor’s inadequate supervision of the student pilot and the student pilot’s loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.