- Date
- April 6, 2026, 16:39 local (21:39 UTC)
- Place
- Tahlequah, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1203FCessna 172N
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 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
- 20260406002609A
- Case key
- 202763
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 directional control while landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and nose over.
Findings · 2
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 landing roll, the airplane began to pull to the left. He did not want to put in “abrupt” right rudder because he did not want to tip the airplane over, so he continued to let the airplane roll into the grass. He thought that once the airplane rolled into the grass it would slow down, but the airplane encountered a wet, soggy, and shallow ravine. The nosewheel stuck in the mud, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The left wing and vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1203F
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17272968
- Built
- 1979
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rawson Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- RVS · Tulsa, OK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- TQH · Tahlequah Muni, runway 17/35, 5,001 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 45 total · 45 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- KMKO, 24 nm away
- METAR
- KMKO 062153Z AUTO 14009KT 10SM CLR 22/M01 A3023
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 9, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.7 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.