- Date
- June 24, 2025, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Calera, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N34655Cessna 177B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 19, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250624011879A
- Case key
- 200404
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
A loss of control during landing.
Findings · 1
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 pilot had planned to fly in the airport traffic pattern to practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot stated that during the first landing, after touchdown on the main wheels, he felt a “jolt” when the nosewheel came down and the airplane veered to the left and off the runway. To avoid a worker mowing in the vicinity, he initially applied the brakes and aft pressure on the control yoke in an attempt to slow the airplane. He then applied full right rudder and added power, and the airplane turned right, briefly became airborne as the airplane returned to the runway surface. The airplane then touched down “hard” on the nose landing gear and the pilot brought the airplane to a stop. The fuselage aft of the firewall was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The worker who was mowing reported that he saw the airplane “wobbling” as it approached the runway. He then stopped cutting the grass and moved the mower closer to the airport perimeter fence to stay out of the airplane’s way. He continued to watch the airplane and described that during the landing it contacted the runway and bounced three times before he saw the airplane’s nose hit the ground, after which he watched it exit the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N34655
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17701925
- Built
- 1973
- Airframe hours
- 6,851
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Take Flight Holdings, LLC
- Registered owner
- Nick The Marketer LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 29, 2024
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- EET · Shelby County, runway 16, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 2, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 450 total · 8 in this make and model · 300 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 3025.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EET
- METAR
- SA 24/06/2025 16:53->METAR KEET 241653Z AUTO 00000KT 9SM FEW045 32/22 A3025
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 19, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 12.6 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.