Cessna 172 accident near New Kent, Virginia, August 26, 2018

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The student pilot was on the first leg of a solo cross-country flight. A witness at the destination airport reported that he heard loud “engine noise,” looked up, and then saw the airplane about midfield in a steep, left descending turn with the “nose about 40° down.” The airplane then descended out of his view behind a hangar, and shortly thereafter, he heard the sound of impact. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane had struck a power line about 700 ft left of the runway centerline at midfield, impacted terrain and three different sections of fencing, and then came to rest nose down. During postaccident examination of the airplane, the throttle control was found in the full-forward position, and the pitch trim was found in a slightly nose-down position. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. According to the flight school owner, a flight school policy prohibited students from conducting touch-and-go landings on solo cross-country flights. Given this policy and the postaccident throttle position, it is likely that the student was conducting a go-around and that he lost airplane control during the initial climb.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.