Narrative:

I arrived at the airport to prepare myself for the flight. First; I proceeded to check the weather at the office as is pilot standard procedure. The weather appeared to have been perfect for a VFR flight. The only concern was the winds for a student pilot. The winds were on the runway in my departure airport from 340 at 10 KTS with gusts of 16 KTS; the winds at my destination about the same direction with gusts of 20 KTS. I talked with the person in charge of the front desk at the school. We discussed the weather report. I was not in any rush to take off. In fact; if the winds were not getting better; I had planned to head back home. Nevertheless; I kept checking the weather report and found out that the winds were forecast to die down at both airports. I talked with a certified flight instructor at the school and asked him for a procedural advice. He reminded me that in fact the winds were dying down. However; he said that what I could do was a low pass at my destination and feel the winds. In this manner; I could make a decision whether or not to land the aircraft. I trusted his wisdom because I had flown with him in the past. Therefore; I got ready for the flight; submitted my flight plans; conducted a preflight thoroughly and got ready to take off. I took off and flew to my destination without any problem. When I had my destination in sight; I called the tower and requested a low pass to feel the winds; and the tower granted me permission. The winds; according to ASOS; were from 330 at 10 KTS and no gusts reported. I felt comfortable with the low pass. Then; I decided to go around within the airport's pattern and intended to land. When approaching the runway; I held the aircraft a little bit to the right for the wind with opposite aileron; full flaps. When I was in the final approach; my airspeed indicator displayed 65 KTS. While flaring; I pushed the left rudder all the way in to keep the aircraft aligned with the runway. The maneuver required a little bit of effort due to this aircraft has a small right yaw tendency. When the front tire touched down; the aircraft was already heading to the left; and then I was pushed to the grass. The aircraft speed was about 60 or 55 KTS by then; and the efforts to brake or put the aircraft back to the runway were useless. I hit a yellow taxi sign right head on which struck the propeller. The engine shut down immediately and the aircraft continued rolling to the runway. I pulled over with the remaining speed and called the tower to notify them what had just occurred. Also; it was to inform them that I was fine. The tower replied saying hold my position. Then; they sent me help. One of the fire fighter officers; who was at the scene; asked me to try to start the engine while they were there observing for any problem. I started the engine without any problem. I taxied and parked the aircraft.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 student pilot describes the circumstances leading up to a runway excursion during landing with crosswind conditions.

Narrative: I arrived at the airport to prepare myself for the flight. First; I proceeded to check the weather at the office as is pilot standard procedure. The weather appeared to have been perfect for a VFR flight. The only concern was the winds for a student pilot. The winds were on the runway in my departure airport from 340 at 10 KTS with gusts of 16 KTS; the winds at my destination about the same direction with gusts of 20 KTS. I talked with the person in charge of the front desk at the school. We discussed the weather report. I was not in any rush to take off. In fact; if the winds were not getting better; I had planned to head back home. Nevertheless; I kept checking the weather report and found out that the winds were forecast to die down at both airports. I talked with a Certified Flight Instructor at the school and asked him for a procedural advice. He reminded me that in fact the winds were dying down. However; he said that what I could do was a low pass at my destination and feel the winds. In this manner; I could make a decision whether or not to land the aircraft. I trusted his wisdom because I had flown with him in the past. Therefore; I got ready for the flight; submitted my flight plans; conducted a preflight thoroughly and got ready to take off. I took off and flew to my destination without any problem. When I had my destination in sight; I called the Tower and requested a low pass to feel the winds; and the Tower granted me permission. The winds; according to ASOS; were from 330 at 10 KTS and no gusts reported. I felt comfortable with the low pass. Then; I decided to go around within the airport's pattern and intended to land. When approaching the runway; I held the aircraft a little bit to the right for the wind with opposite aileron; full flaps. When I was in the final approach; my airspeed indicator displayed 65 KTS. While flaring; I pushed the left rudder all the way in to keep the aircraft aligned with the runway. The maneuver required a little bit of effort due to this aircraft has a small right yaw tendency. When the front tire touched down; the aircraft was already heading to the left; and then I was pushed to the grass. The aircraft speed was about 60 or 55 KTS by then; and the efforts to brake or put the aircraft back to the runway were useless. I hit a yellow taxi sign right head on which struck the propeller. The engine shut down immediately and the aircraft continued rolling to the runway. I pulled over with the remaining speed and called the Tower to notify them what had just occurred. Also; it was to inform them that I was fine. The Tower replied saying hold my position. Then; they sent me help. One of the fire fighter officers; who was at the scene; asked me to try to start the engine while they were there observing for any problem. I started the engine without any problem. I taxied and parked the aircraft.

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.