- Date
- May 26, 2026, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fitchburg, MA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6287TCessna R182
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 11, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20260526007509A
- Case key
- 203124
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 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 pilot had completed two previous landings uneventfully and was attempting to land for a third time. Review of airport surveillance video showed that the airplane approached the runway with a significant unarrested rate of descent while in a slightly nose high pitch attitude. The descent continued until the airplane contacted the runway hard, after which the nose landing gear immediately collapsed and the airplane came to stop on the runway. The underside of the airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged during the landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6287T
- Reported as
- Cessna R182 (NO SERIES EXISTS)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R18201960
- Built
- 1983
- Airframe hours
- 4,923
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-J3c5c, 235 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 21, 2025 · 3.9 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FIT · Fitchburg Muni, runway 32, 5,001 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- October 26, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 700 total · 220 in this make and model · 6.8 in the last 90 days · 2.7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- METAR
- SA 26/05/2026 15:52-> METAR KFIT 261552Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 26/09 A3006 RMK AO2 SLP179 T02560094=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 13.0 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.