- Date
- January 18, 2026, 09:14 local (17:14 UTC)
- Place
- Lewiston, ID
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N465CSCessna T206H
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20260118001309A
- Case key
- 202593
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 hard, bounced landing and subsequent tail strike.
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 of the airplane reported that after descending through a cloud layer on an instrument approach, he acquired the airport environment and continued the approach to land in visual meteorological conditions. During the landing flare, the airplane landed hard and then bounced. On subsequent landing the empennage struck the runway surface, followed by the nose wheel, which resulted in a tire blowout. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N465CS
- Reported as
- Cessna T206H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T20609165
- Built
- 2015
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 9, 2025 · 1,191.8 hours before
- Departed
- 8S4 · Enterprise, OR
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LWS · Lewiston/Nez Perce County, runway 26, 6,511 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Stall warning system, Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 523 total · 458 in this make and model · 448 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.33 inHg
- Observed at
- LWS
- METAR
- KLWS 231656Z 29004KT 10SM OVC035 M01/M04 A3033 RMK AO2 SLP288 T10061044 $=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 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.