Cessna 208 N9612B

Summary

On 13 March 2026 at about 17:55 local time, a Cessna 208 registered N9612B, operated by Castle Aviation, was involved in an accident near North Canton, Ohio, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 March 2026 at 17:55

Classification

Accident

Location

North Canton, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Akron-Canton Rgnl (CAK)

Coordinates

40.9201, -81.4357

Aircraft

Cessna 208

Registration

N9612B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1988

Engines

1

Operator

Castle Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA26LA148

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor’s decision to conduct a training flight in strong, gusting crosswinds, which resulted in the airplane’s right wing impacting the ground during taxi.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot receiving instruction and the flight instructor had planned a flight to perform practice instrument approaches at two nearby airports, and due to the wind conditions, the flight instructor had planned that the approaches would terminate as low approaches before returning to the departure airport to land. The flight instructor reported that while taxiing onto the runway for departure, he felt the wind push the airplane, which began to skid. While being pushed in the skid, the left main landing gear was lifted and the right wing impacted the ground resulting in substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A review of surface weather observations for around the time of the accident showed that the wind velocity was about 31 knots, with gusts up to 48 knots. While on the taxiway, the airplane would have been experiencing a direct right crosswind changing to a right quartering headwind as the airplane turned onto the runway. The crosswind gusts the airplane likely experienced were more than twice the maximum demonstrated crosswind component of 20 knots listed in the airplane’s Pilot Operating Handbook. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the flight instructor stated that the operator should implement maximum wind gust speeds for training flights. Had such limitations been in place at the time of the accident, it is possible that they would have aided the flight instructor in detecting the hazard those extreme wind conditions represented.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.