Narrative:

My student and I flew to ZZZ for his first supervised solo flight. We did four landings together in the pattern and all landings were good. The first was a touch and go as the pattern was busy when we entered on a close in base from the northeast for the runway. The next three were full-stop landings to acquaint the student with the ground procedures he would have to do when it was time to solo and for practice on the ground roll and braking after landing. Student had done at least 15 landings at ZZZ before with probably ten to this exact runway. After the fourth landing; as we were taxiing back to the ramp; we contacted ground to confirm the student would be able to exit the runway after landing on the last taxiway. There were a few construction trucks to the right of the runway at the end and we had not needed to go that far for any of our previous landings. Ground told us it was open and I don't believe this was any factor. I endorsed the student for his first solo flight; briefed him on safety and PIC responsibilities as he had been briefed many times before; and exited the plane. The student taxied up to the runway; made all the right calls; and did a left traffic pattern. There was one multi-engine aircraft that had gone around on landing and joined the downwind in front of my student but it did not seem to be a factor other than causing a wider downwind. Abeam the numbers; base to final; and final all looked good. Student landed plane nicely from my viewpoint abeam the landing zone on the ramp. I watched the student roll down the runway to exit on a crossing runway; which we had used previously to exit the runway. Before reaching the runway the student appeared from my angle to strike some sign and knock it over off the right side of the runway well before exiting. Student was still proceeding down the runway at the time; this was not a result of cutting a corner too sharply to exit and was a good 200 yards or so from where he would eventually exit. From my vantage point; I did not see any abrupt move towards the right and at the distance I was I could no longer see if he was off the center line. I had eyes on him the whole time so he must have been gradually moving right after the landing because the sign was a good 1;500 to 2;000 ft from where he landed. The student exited the runway and taxied back to the ramp where I had him shut down the aircraft for inspection. He said after he had landed; the plane just kept moving right and he tried to correct left but was afraid too much left rudder and brake would cause him to roll over. He said he had gone off the side of the runway for a few seconds at the end of his rollout before getting back fully on the runway. He said only his right wheel left the runway and the nosewheel never hit the grass. Inspecting the aircraft I confirmed he had hit something as there was a small dent in the skin on the right wing strut about two feet from the fuselage. After a thorough visual inspection there appeared to be no other damage to the aircraft. I also inspected the tires to see if there were any visible flat spots from possibly landing with feet on the brakes. There were none and it had never been a problem with the student before. Having visually seen the small dent and confirming what I thought I saw happen I called our safety director and ZZZ tower to report the incident. Tower had not seen anything happen so they had airport ops inspect the runway signs. It was confirmed that a sign a few feet off the right side had been knocked over. We followed all tower and company protocols after this and left the aircraft tied down on the ramp for a more thorough maintenance inspection.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A student pilot on his initial supervised solo was unable to keep the C172 on the runway during his first landing attempt and struck a sign off the right side of the runway. Minor damage to a wing strut was noted.

Narrative: My student and I flew to ZZZ for his first supervised solo flight. We did four landings together in the pattern and all landings were good. The first was a touch and go as the pattern was busy when we entered on a close in base from the northeast for the runway. The next three were full-stop landings to acquaint the student with the ground procedures he would have to do when it was time to solo and for practice on the ground roll and braking after landing. Student had done at least 15 landings at ZZZ before with probably ten to this exact runway. After the fourth landing; as we were taxiing back to the ramp; we contacted Ground to confirm the student would be able to exit the runway after landing on the last taxiway. There were a few construction trucks to the right of the runway at the end and we had not needed to go that far for any of our previous landings. Ground told us it was open and I don't believe this was any factor. I endorsed the student for his first solo flight; briefed him on safety and PIC responsibilities as he had been briefed many times before; and exited the plane. The student taxied up to the runway; made all the right calls; and did a left traffic pattern. There was one multi-engine aircraft that had gone around on landing and joined the downwind in front of my student but it did not seem to be a factor other than causing a wider downwind. Abeam the numbers; base to final; and final all looked good. Student landed plane nicely from my viewpoint abeam the landing zone on the ramp. I watched the student roll down the runway to exit on a crossing runway; which we had used previously to exit the runway. Before reaching the runway the student appeared from my angle to strike some sign and knock it over off the right side of the runway well before exiting. Student was still proceeding down the runway at the time; this was not a result of cutting a corner too sharply to exit and was a good 200 yards or so from where he would eventually exit. From my vantage point; I did not see any abrupt move towards the right and at the distance I was I could no longer see if he was off the center line. I had eyes on him the whole time so he must have been gradually moving right after the landing because the sign was a good 1;500 to 2;000 FT from where he landed. The student exited the runway and taxied back to the ramp where I had him shut down the aircraft for inspection. He said after he had landed; the plane just kept moving right and he tried to correct left but was afraid too much left rudder and brake would cause him to roll over. He said he had gone off the side of the runway for a few seconds at the end of his rollout before getting back fully on the runway. He said only his right wheel left the runway and the nosewheel never hit the grass. Inspecting the aircraft I confirmed he had hit something as there was a small dent in the skin on the right wing strut about two feet from the fuselage. After a thorough visual inspection there appeared to be no other damage to the aircraft. I also inspected the tires to see if there were any visible flat spots from possibly landing with feet on the brakes. There were none and it had never been a problem with the student before. Having visually seen the small dent and confirming what I thought I saw happen I called our Safety Director and ZZZ Tower to report the incident. Tower had not seen anything happen so they had airport ops inspect the runway signs. It was confirmed that a sign a few feet off the right side had been knocked over. We followed all Tower and company protocols after this and left the aircraft tied down on the ramp for a more thorough maintenance inspection.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.