- Date
- July 23, 2026, 09:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Middlefield, OH
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3661QBeech A23-24
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 8, 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
- 20260723009299A
- Case key
- 203446
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 failure to maintain directional control during 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
During an instructional flight, the flight instructor was demonstrating a landing. Upon touchdown, the flight instructor noticed that the airplane was right of centerline. He applied left rudder to realign the airplane with the centerline but overcorrected. The airplane veered sharply left, then he tried to correct with right rudder and the airplane veered sharply to the right. The airplane exited the runway surface and went through a ditch. The nose landing gear separated before the airplane slid through the grass and struck the concrete base of a tetrahedron. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage and wings. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3661Q
- Reported as
- Beech A23-24
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- MA-251
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 2,085.3
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A2B, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 18, 2026 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- 7G8 · Middlefield, OH
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 7G8 · Geauga County, runway 29, 3,500 × 65 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Video recording device, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS
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
- Pilot
- Age
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 5, 2026
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 243 total · 142.4 as pilot in command · 5.9 in the last 90 days · 0.6 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 24, 2026
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 113.9 total · 56.6 in this make and model · 25.9 as pilot in command · 6.8 in the last 90 days · 6.8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- KPOV, 16 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KPOV 231355Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM SCT055 19/11 A3023 RMK AO2 T01890111
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 8, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.