- Date
- April 13, 2026, 17:28 local (21:28 UTC)
- Place
- The Rock, GA · Airport property
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N63405Cessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 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
- 20260413006759A
- Case key
- 202830
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, porpoised 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 student pilot reported that during landing, the airplane encountered a light wind gust, ballooned, touched down hard, and porpoised several times. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N63405
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S10849
- Built
- 2008
- Airframe hours
- 10,072.7
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- US Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- Christiansen Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 29, 2026 · 47 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- OPN · Thomaston-Upson County, runway 12, 6,350 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, 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
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 54 total · 44 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- OPN
- METAR
- METAR KOPN 132135Z AUTO 18005KT 10SM CLR 27/11 A3025 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 22, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 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.