- Date
- January 28, 2026, 13:40 local (18:40 UTC)
- Place
- Atlanta, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N407MDCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 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
- 20260128003059A
- Case key
- 202370
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 improper landing flare which resulted in a hard 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 solo student pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings in the airport traffic pattern after performing maneuvers in the local area. After two successful stop-and-go landings, the pilot approached the runway for a third landing, during which the airplane touched down hard, so the pilot aborted the landing. During the final landing approach, the airplane touched down hard again and bounced, after which the pilot lost control of the airplane. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and rudder during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N407MD
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S12764
- Built
- 2021
- Airframe hours
- 3,989
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Wings Over Texas, doing business as US Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- 9k Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 27, 2025 · 83 hours before
- Airport
- CCO · Newnan Coweta County, runway 33, 5,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather, Stall warning system, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator
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
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 22 total · 22 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Turbulence
- Light
- Observed at
- KCCO
- METAR
- METAR KCCO 281835Z AUTO 31008KT 290V350 10SM CLR 07/M09 A3027 RMK AO2 T00731094=
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 21, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 18.7 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.
Other investigations on N407MD · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.