- Date
- August 27, 2025, 21:15 local (Aug 28, 2025, 02:15 UTC)
- Place
- Ardmore, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5181ACessna 172R
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 11, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250827011429A
- Case key
- 200897
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
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.
Analysis
The purpose of the flight was for the pilot to conduct solo night training to include takeoff and landing practice. The flight school reported that during the landing, the airplane bounced 3 to 4 times on the runway before coming to a stop. As a result of the hard landing, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The flight school chief pilot stated that a greater emphasis should have been placed on training for night illusions and that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5181A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17281102
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 9,592.7
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Southeastern Oklahoma State University
- Registered owner
- Southeastern Oklahoma State University
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 8, 2025
- Departed
- DUA · Durant, OK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ADM · Ardmore Muni, runway 13/31, 9,002 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 27, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 256 total · 107 in this make and model · 159 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 100° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.08 inHg
- Observed at
- KADM
- METAR
- KADM 280250Z 10007KT 10SM CLR 23/21 A3008
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 11, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5181A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.