Cessna 172N accident near Idaho Falls, Idaho, February 3, 2005
On February 3, 2005 at about 7:30 pm local time, a Cessna 172N, registered N5204K, was substantially damaged in an accident near Idaho Falls, Idaho (Idaho Falls Regional airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control and the instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight. A contributing factor was the deep snow beside the runway.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 3, 2005 · about 7:30 pm local time
- Place
- Idaho Falls, Idaho · Idaho Falls Regional · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N · all 172Ns on the register
- Registration
- N5204K · no longer on the register · serial 17274009
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The flight instructor reported that he and his student were performing touch and go landings on runway 35. On the second landing, the airplane touched down smoothly, and the flight instructor was "critiquing" the student's landing, when the student "unexpectedly added full power causing the plane to jerk to the left." The flight instructor reduced power and applied the brakes. He was unable to prevent the airplane from exiting the runway. When the nose wheel entered the "foot and a half deep snow" beside the runway, the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The outboard left wing, the vertical stabilizer, and the wing struts sustained structural damage.
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.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 243 hours in all; 90 in this make and model; 11 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Injury: no injuries
Dual student
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 10 hours in all; 10 in this make and model; 5 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-H2AD (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Avcenter, Inc.
The flight
- Departed from: IDA Idaho Falls ID at 7:15 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 35
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 350° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 28°F (-2°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N5204K the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.