Cessna 172 N505LP

Summary

On 21 August 2025 at about 23:25 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N505LP, operated by Wifa (Washington International Flight Academy) LLC, was involved in an accident near Gaithersburg, Maryland, 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

21 August 2025 at 23:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Montgomery County Airpark (GAI)

Coordinates

39.1683, -77.1660

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N505LP

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

Wifa (Washington International Flight Academy) LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA311

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor’s distraction during landing, which resulted in a long landing and subsequent runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that the student pilot had an tablet computer in her lap. During the landing flare, the tablet interfered with the student pilot’s control input. In an attempt to assist the student, the flight instructor briefly diverted her attention from the landing, to shift the tablet away from the control yoke. When the flight instructor looked back outside, she realized that the airplane had floated more than halfway down the runway and had not touched down. She took control of the airplane but decided not to attempt a go-around due to trees at the runway end. The flight instructor applied full braking, but when she realized that the airplane was not going to stop on the runway, she steered left down a small embankment, rather than risk a larger embankment at the end of the runway. The nose landing gear partially collapsed, and the airplane came to rest upright off the left side end of the runway. The forward portion of the airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The flight instructor added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.