- Date
- February 20, 2025, 14:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Cottonwood, AZ · Runway
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N726ERTextron 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 199748
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 undergoing instructions’ loss of aircraft control during landing, and the flight instructor’s failure to promptly intervene.
Findings · 4
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 was practicing landing maneuvers with their flight instructor. The early part of the flight was uneventful, and they decided to work on short-field landings, all of which resulted in go-arounds. They subsequently started to practice power-off 180° landings, and on the third landing attempt, the airplane was high on the approach. The student performed a forward slip maneuver, however the airplane was traveling too fast on touchdown, and it bounced. The nose then dropped, and the nosewheel struck the runway. The flight instructor took the flight controls just as the nosewheel struck the runway again and added power to initiate a go-around. The airplane sustained substantial damage during the sequence, however the airplane performance appeared unaffected and the crew continued training unaware of the damage. It was not until after landing, when the lesson was complete, that they noticed damage to the propeller tip and forward fuselage structure. The pilot and flight instructor reported no preimpact mechanical anomalies or malfunctions that could have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N726ER
- Reported as
- Textron 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S13029
- Built
- 2023
- Airframe hours
- 1,839.9
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc
- Registered owner
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · February 11, 2025 · 33.2 hours before
- Departed
- PRC · Prescott, AZ
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- P52 · Cottonwood, runway 14/32, 4,250 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Data recorder, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 28, 2023
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 665 total · 451 in this make and model · 595 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 22, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 278 total · 278 in this make and model · 79 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 15 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- P52
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 5, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.2 MB in all.