- Date
- October 1, 2025, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Portage, WI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N78RCCirrus Design SR20
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 30, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20251001015209A
- Case key
- 201803
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 student pilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed and attitude for a short field landing. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action.
Findings · 4
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 student pilot was attempting a short field landing. While on final approach he slowed to just above 70 knots. Just after this, the instructor noticed the pitch attitude increase and the airspeed decrease so he called out, “go around, go, go!” and attempted to help advance the throttle but the student was already doing it. The airplane landed just beyond the runway numbers and then became airborne again. The student and instructor completed the traffic pattern and landed uneventfully. The flight instructor examined the main landing gear and did not find any damage present, so they returned to their home base whereupon the flight instructor found substantial damage to the structure for the vertical stabilizer. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions of failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78RC
- Reported as
- Cirrus Design SR20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1259
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 2,087.8
- Engine
- Continental IO-360 ES, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Wisconsin Aviation - Four Lakes Inc.
- Registered owner
- Aviaries LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 11, 2025
- Departed
- KMSN · Madison, WI
- Destination
- C47 · Portage, WI
- Airport
- C47 · Portage Muni, runway 18, 3,770 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Airframe parachute, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction 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.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 11, 2024
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,963.3 total · 417 in this make and model · 1,858.6 as pilot in command · 192.7 in the last 90 days · 65.8 in the last 30 days · 0.5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 31
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 180.3 total · 126.8 in this make and model · 12 as pilot in command · 36.3 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.24 inHg
- Observed at
- KDLL, 13 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KDLL 011535Z AUTO 11006KT 10SM CLR 22/14 A3024 RMK AO2 T02180143=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 4, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.