- Date
- July 18, 2026, 11:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Mooresville, NC · airport runway
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3462ECessna 172N
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- 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
- Case key
- 203462
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, bounced 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 reported that during the landing flare, the airplane contacted the runway hard and bounced twice before he was able land and bring the airplane to a stop near the departure end of the runway. The airplane’s lower fuselage was substantially damaged 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
- N3462E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271555
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 10,387.5
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- NC86 Flying Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 14, 2025
- Departed
- BCB · Blacksburg, VA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 14A · Lake Norman Airpark, runway 32, 3,147 × 40 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction 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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 24, 2026
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 112 total · 111 in this make and model · 104 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- SVH, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSVH 181500Z AUTO 24005KT 10SM CLR 31/24 A3006 RMK AO2 T03110236
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 8, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 MB in all.