- Date
- March 13, 2026, 13:55 local (17:55 UTC)
- Place
- North Canton, OH
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N9612BCessna 208
- Defining event
- Taxi-into takeoff position: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 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
- 20260313001589A
- Case key
- 202648
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 flight instructor’s decision to conduct a training flight in strong, gusting crosswinds, which resulted in the airplane’s right wing impacting the ground during taxi.
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 pilot receiving instruction and the flight instructor had planned a flight to perform practice instrument approaches at two nearby airports, and due to the wind conditions, the flight instructor had planned that the approaches would terminate as low approaches before returning to the departure airport to land. The flight instructor reported that while taxiing onto the runway for departure, he felt the wind push the airplane, which began to skid. While being pushed in the skid, the left main landing gear was lifted and the right wing impacted the ground resulting in substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A review of surface weather observations for around the time of the accident showed that the wind velocity was about 31 knots, with gusts up to 48 knots. While on the taxiway, the airplane would have been experiencing a direct right crosswind changing to a right quartering headwind as the airplane turned onto the runway. The crosswind gusts the airplane likely experienced were more than twice the maximum demonstrated crosswind component of 20 knots listed in the airplane’s Pilot Operating Handbook. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the flight instructor stated that the operator should implement maximum wind gust speeds for training flights. Had such limitations been in place at the time of the accident, it is possible that they would have aided the flight instructor in detecting the hazard those extreme wind conditions represented.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9612B
- Reported as
- Cessna 208 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 208B0136
- Built
- 1988
- Airframe hours
- 25,375.3
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A, 675 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Castle Aviation, doing business as Castle Aviation
- Registered owner
- Avion Capital Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 17, 2026 · 73.7 hours before
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CAK · Akron-Canton Rgnl, runway 23, 8,204 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Onboard weather, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 25, 2026
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 18,006 total · 7,412 in this make and model · 17,882 as pilot in command · 86.6 in the last 90 days · 31.1 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 24, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,118.9 total · 8.9 in this make and model · 754.6 as pilot in command · 121.7 in the last 90 days · 33.6 in the last 30 days · 4.3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 31 knots, gusting 48
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.49 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- CAK
- METAR
- METAR KCAK 131751Z 23031G48KT 10SM FEW050 FEW090 11/M03 A2949 RMK AO2 PK WND 23048/1749 SLP993 T01111028 10117 20017 58038
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.