- Date
- August 18, 2026, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Micanopy, FL · Swamp
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3866QCessna 172L
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 203658
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On August 18, 2026 at 1100 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172L, N3866Q, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Micanopy, Florida. The flight instructor and student pilot were uninjured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor reported that during the power recovery to a power off stall the student pilot was having trouble pushing the throttle back in during the recovery portion of the procedure. The flight instructor attempted to demonstrate the maneuver and when he attempted the power on recovery the movement of the throttle did not increase the engine power. When the throttle was pushed in it would forcibly push back out on its own. They ran through their checklist as they attempted to return to the runway. The engine continued to run at idle speed as they made a force landing to a dry lakebed. During the landing rollout the nose wheel traveled into a marshy area and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings. An inspection of the throttle control system is pending.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3866Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 172L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17259966
- Built
- 1971
- Airframe hours
- 8,619
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Ocala Aviation Services Inc
- Registered owner
- Ocala Aviation Services Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 3, 2026 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- KOCF · Ocala, FL
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.08 inHg
- Observed at
- KGNV, 13 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KGNV 181453Z 31010KT 10SM CLR 32/24 A3008 RMK AO2 SLP180 T03170239 51008 $