NTSB CEN25LA088 — 2025-01-27 · Air Force Academy, Colorado, United States

Current FAA registration · N51387

Make / Model: CESSNA 172S
Year of manufacture: 2001 · 24 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING IO-360-L2A (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20011218
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A67024

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N51387 Cessna 172S None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during final approach after encountering an unexpected windshear.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot, about 150 ft above ground level, the airplane encountered an unexpected windshear which resulted in a “significant sink rate” and loss of about 10 knots of airspeed. The pilot attempted to arrest the descent by adding engine power but was unsuccessful. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and then settled on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Windshear-Effect on operation
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Windshear-Response/compensation
— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent rate-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_CEN25LA088.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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