- Date
- March 21, 2026, 18:00 local (Mar 22, 2026, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chehalis, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N163TWCessna 162
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA SEA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260321004699A
- Case key
- 202689
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 recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a 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 purpose of the flight was for the student pilot to complete her solo cross county requirement for a private pilot certificate. During landing, she maneuvered the airplane into a flare and it contacted the runway surface hard. The airplane bounced and became airborne again. The pilot elected to continue the landing attempt instead of performing a go-around and added power while maneuvering the airplane in a nose-low attitude. The propeller and nose landing gear impacted the runway surface and the airplane then pitched up, which resulted in a tail strike and substantial damage to the rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N163TW
- Reported as
- Cessna 162
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 16200230
- Built
- 2011
- Airframe hours
- 3,054
- Engine
- Continental O-200-D, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Rainier Flight Service LLC
- Registered owner
- Rainier Flight Service LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 20, 2026 · 48 hours before
- Departed
- RNT · Renton, WA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CLS · Chehalis-Centralia, runway 34, 5,000 × 140 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight 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
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 102.6 total · 101.3 in this make and model · 1.8 as pilot in command · 14.5 in the last 90 days · 6.7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft
- Temperature
- 41 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KCLS
- METAR
- METAR KCLS 211235Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 05/04 A3019 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 25, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.