- Date
- May 18, 2026, 12:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Statesville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N177BTCessna 177RG
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 3, 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
- 20260518007409I
- Case key
- 203047
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 failure to extend the landing gear prior to landing.
Findings · 3
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 reported that he was approaching the traffic pattern at his destination airport. A pilot from another airplane announced they were taking off from the same runway as the intended landing. After takeoff, the other airplane entered the downwind leg ahead of the pilot. The pilot got distracted by the other airplane now ahead of him and forgot to complete the before landing checklist. He subsequently landed without extending the landing gear, resulting in substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N177BT
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG1194
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 5,890
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Plane Data Inc
- Registered owner
- Plane Data Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 6, 2026 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- TYS · Knoxville, TN
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- SVH · Statesville Regional Airport, runway 28, 7,003 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Onboard weather, 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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- November 5, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,669 total · 3,561 in this make and model · 3,561 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- SVH
- METAR
- METAR KSVH 181635Z AUTO 25010KT 10SM CLR 30/17 A3028 RMK AO2 T03000172
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 3, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 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.