CESSNA 172

Full Narrative

On June 9, 2026 at about 1520 central daylight time a Cessna 172C, N1330Y, was substantially damaged when it crashed near Cleburne, Texas. The flight instructor and student pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The flight instructor reported she was conducting a familiarization instructional flight with a student pilot who was planning to start flight training. She stated that it was a hot, humid day and that during the take-off the airplane climbed to about 50 ft above ground level. She determined the airplane was not building sufficient airspeed, so she elected to perform a precautionary landing on the remaining runway. The airplane landed hard on its main landing gear and bounced back into the air; the airplane then pitched forward, the nose wheel contacted the runway, and the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage structure.

Postaccident photographs taken before the airplane was removed from the runway showed the elevator trim tab in a nose-down trim position. Additional postaccident photos showed the elevator trim tab and cockpit trim indicator positions in a condition consistent with a significant nose-down trim setting, as well as an up/down elevator trim placard installed in an incorrect location and position relative to the cockpit trim indicator slot and tab.