- Date
- May 24, 2026, 11:25 local (16:25 UTC)
- Place
- Georgetown, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N964SPCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 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
- 20260524005039A
- Case key
- 203096
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 · 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 purpose of the flight was for the solo student pilot to conduct takeoff and landing practice. The student pilot reported that during the soft-field landing, the airplane bounced and began to porpoise. As a result of the hard landing, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall and lower fuselage. The student pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N964SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8176
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 7,855.7
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Dirty Side Down Aviation LLC
- Registered owner
- Dirty Side Down Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 16, 2026
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- GTU · Georgetown Exec, runway 18/36, 5,004 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, 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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 65 total · 65 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- KGTU
- METAR
- METAR KGTU 241655Z VRB06KT 10SM CLR 27/19 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP163 T02720194=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 11, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 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.