- Date
- October 2, 2025, 17:38 local (23:38 UTC)
- Place
- North La Junta, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N617SPCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20251002019389A
- Case key
- 201778
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 solo student pilot’s improper landing flare and subsequent improper recovery from a 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
According to the solo student pilot, the airplane bounced during the landing. She continued the landing, and on the last bounce, the left main landing gear went off the runway. The airplane exited the runway, and the pilot attempted to stop the airplane. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing, engine mount, and lower fuselage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N617SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8606
- Built
- 2000
- Airframe hours
- 11,013.1
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Edb Air Inc, doing business as Na
- Registered owner
- Edb Air Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 22, 2025
- Departed
- PUB · Pueblo, CO
- Destination
- LHX · La Junta, CO
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- LHX · La Junta Muni, runway 08/26, 6,849 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, 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
- 55
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 61 total · 61 in this make and model · 5.7 as pilot in command · 28.1 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- KLAA, 39 nm away
- METAR
- KLAA 022353Z AUTO 14010KT 10SM CLR 29/07 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP161 T02940072 10322 20267 55003=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.4 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.