# NTSB ERA26LA009: Cessna 182H, N1998X, Smithfield, RI, October 4, 2025 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: October 4, 2025, 11:39 local (15:39 UTC) - Place: Smithfield, RI - Coordinates: 41.921087, -71.489351 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.9211&lon=-71.4894&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 11, 2025 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 201820 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA009 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/201820/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=201820 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA009 ## Probable cause Maintenance personnel’s improper rigging of the elevator trim system, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing was the maintenance personnel and pilot’s failure to perform adequate post maintenance/preflight inspections. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Flight control system: elevator tab control system](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01022731): Aircraft › Aircraft systems · Incorrect service/maintenance (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01022731/cases.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01022731/cases.md) - [Flight control system: elevator tab control system](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01022731): Aircraft › Aircraft systems · Inadequate inspection (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01022731/cases.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01022731/cases.md) - [Inspection: preflight inspection](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510/cases.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 551 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510/cases.md) - [Inspection: post maintenance inspection](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061515): Personnel issues › Task performance · Maintenance personnel (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061515/cases.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 57 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061515/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Prior to flight: Aircraft maintenance event](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/040); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/040/sequence.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 484 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/040/sequence.md) - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Flight control sys malf/fail](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/333); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/333/sequence.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 410 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/333/sequence.md) - [Landing: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 182H, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=2072718), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot of the skydive airplane reported that after the skydivers left the airplane in flight, he attempted to close the jump door. He was unable to secure the jump door and let go to “reset and make a radio call,” at which time the door began to flap uncontrollably. The pilot grabbed the door and continued to hold it in the closed position. While on final approach to land the pilot, while holding the jump door, attempted to add elevator trim to assist him with the landing flare. After moving the cockpit trim wheel in the nose up direction the nose of the airplane pitched down resulting in a hard landing on the nose landing gear and substantial damage to the fuselage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane after the accident and found that the elevator trim control was improperly rigged and that when the cockpit trim wheel was turned in the nose up direction, the elevator trim flight control surface moved in the nose down direction and vice versa. A review of maintenance records for the 10 years preceding the accident flight did not show any specific entry for elevator trim tab rigging or maintenance. A review of the checklist used for the airplane’s annual inspection, which had been completed about two months before the accident, indicated that an elevator trim control check was completed. A logbook entry dated about one month before the accident stated the pedestal was removed. During a postaccident interview, the mechanic who performed that work described that he blocked the elevator trim cables (blocking is a term that indicates the control cables were secured to prevent movement of the cables) while the pedestal was removed. The elevator trim chain was then removed from the sprocket to complete the removal of the pedestal, before being reinstalled at the completion of the maintenance task. The mechanic stated he did not recall making a functional control check of this system, post maintenance. Given this information it is likely that the mechanic incorrectly installed the elevator trim control chain at the conclusion of the maintenance he had performed and that his failure to perform a post maintenance flight control check resulted in him not detecting this defect. Additionally, had the pilot completed a thorough preflight inspection of the airplane prior to the accident flight, it is likely that this defect could have been detected and addressed before resulting in the control anomaly that occurred during the accident flight. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N1998X](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N1998X), registered now, S/N 18256098, built 1965 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 182H - Registry model: [Cessna 182H](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-182h) (registry code 2072718) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental O-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (registry code 17026, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18256098 - Year built: 1965 - Airframe hours: 7905.7 - Engines: Continental O-470-R-50 270 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Skydiving, Part 91 - Operator: Boston Skydive Center - Registered owner: Boston Skydive Center - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, September 22, 2025, 3.3 hours before - Airport: SFZ, North Central State, runway 5, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt - Equipment: ADS-B ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 26; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, with waivers/limitations; last flight review January 24, 2025; seat: left; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 912 total, 367.6 in this make and model, 792.3 as pilot in command, 118.3 in the last 90 days, 50.2 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 73 °F, dew point 52 °F - Altimeter: 30.21 inHg - Observed at: SFZ - METAR: METAR KSFZ 041456Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 23/11 A3021 RMK AO2 SLP227 T02280106 50005 $ ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20251004018299A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20251004018299A), Oct 4, 2025: Cessna 182H, Smithfield, RI, Substantial damage. On October 4, 2025, [privacy data omitted], a Cessna 182, departed from North Central State Airport (ksfz) to conduct parachute jump operations. According to… ## Docket (4 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 11, 2025, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=201820. 10.0 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 10 pages, 4.0 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19480385&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Signed%206120.1_Redacted-Rel.pdf - FAA record of conversation - owner/operator statement (item 2, PDF, 2 pages, 245 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19480051&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Owner%20Statement%20to%20FAA_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Memorandum for record a�� mechanic witness statement (item 3, PDF, 1 page, 67 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19479956&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR%20Mechanic%20Witness%20Statement_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Memorandum for record a�� FAA wreckage examination (item 4, PDF, 48 pages, 5.7 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19494500&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR%20FAA%20Wreckage%20Exam%20Redacted-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.