- Date
- February 11, 2026, 13:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Des Moines, IA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N316VVCostruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P-MENTOR
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 16, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260211001299A
- Case key
- 202425
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, which resulted in a loss of directional control and a runway excursion.
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 solo student pilot reported that during the approach to the runway, she reduced the engine power while over the runway threshold. The airplane floated, it landed hard on the runway, and then it bounced. After a second bounce, the student pilot applied the brakes. The airplane bounced a third time and departed the runway to the left. During the runway excursion, the left wing impacted a runway sign. The airplane came to rest upright on a grass field near the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and the engine mount. The student pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N316VV
- Reported as
- Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P-MENTOR
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1111/US
- Built
- 2024
- Airframe hours
- 712
- Engine
- Rotax Aircraft Engines 912iSC, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vertical Vision Flight Academy, doing business as Vertical Vision Flight Academy
- Registered owner
- Golden Age N316vv LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 22, 2026 · 36.2 hours before
- Departed
- DSM · Des Moines, IA
- Destination
- DSM · Des Moines, IA
- Airport
- DSM · Des Moines Intl, runway 31, 9,001 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, 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.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- February 2, 2026
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 43.9 total · 43.9 in this make and model · 0.7 as pilot in command · 35.9 in the last 90 days · 13.1 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- KDSM
- METAR
- METAR KDSM 111854Z 26007KT 10SM FEW200 SCT250 09/M06 A3031 RMK AO2 SLP270 T00891056
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 16, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.2 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.