Cessna FR-172J N14493

Summary

On 1 December 1997 at about 16:05 local time, a Cessna FR-172J registered N14493, operated by The Flight School of Gwinnett, was involved in an accident near Marietta, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 December 1997 at 16:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Marietta, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna FR-172J

Registration

N14493

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

The Flight School of Gwinnett

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lawrenceville → Wetumpka

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA98LA037

1 person had minor injuries.

A catastrophic failure of the oil cooler core which led to overboard porting of lubricating oil and subsequent engine failure.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise flight, the engine began making banging and hissing sounds, emitting white smoke, and steadily losing power. The pilot requested vectors from ATC to the nearest airport, Dobbins ARB, but couldn't stretch his glide, and made a forced landing onto a construction site. The airplane came to a stop in trees and was destroyed. An NTSB-supervised teardown inspection revealed failure of the oil cooler core resulting in oil starvation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.