Cessna 177B N11372

Summary

On 7 May 1995 at about 21:50 local time, a Cessna 177B registered N11372 was involved in an accident near Nappanee, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 May 1995 at 21:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Nappanee, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

41.4406, -85.9806

Aircraft

Cessna 177B

Registration

N11372

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Fowler

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI95FA148

1 person died.

airplane control was not maintained by the pilot during the his turn to an emergency landing area. Factors associated with this accident were the pilot not complying with the manufacturer's mandatory service bulletin, and an excessive fuel flow caused by the partial failure of the carburetor's float system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE FLYING LOW WITH A ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE AND BLACK SMOKE COMING FROM THE EXHAUST PIPE. THEY SAID THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A STEEP LEFT BANK, DESCENDED TOWARD THE GROUND IN A STEEP PITCH DOWN ATTITUDE, LEVELED OFF AT TREE TOP HEIGHT AND PITCHED DOWN AGAIN. IT COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND AND BOUNCED INTO THE AIR, COLLIDING WITH THE GROUND A SECOND TIME. THE CENTER FUSELAGE, ENGINE COMPARTMENT, AND INBOARD SECTIONS OF THE WINGS WERE CONSUMED BY FIRE. THE CARBURETOR CONTAINED COMPOSITE FLOATS WHICH WERE CHARRED AND BELLOWED OUTWARD. THE CARBURETOR MANUFACTURER PUBLISHED A MANDATORY SERVICE BULLETIN REQUIRING REPLACEMENT OF THE COMPOSITE FLOATS WITH METAL ONES. NO RECORD OF THIS BEING DONE WAS OBSERVED IN THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE'S ENGINE OR AIRFRAME LOGBOOKS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.