Cessna 172N N75616

Summary

On 8 February 2002 at about 17:30 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N75616 was involved in an accident near Santa Fe, New Mexico, 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

8 February 2002 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

35.4692, -106.0000

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N75616

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Fe → Santa Fe

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW02LA079

Nobody was injured.

the loss of engine power as result of the failure of the dual magneto. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the precautionary landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After reaching the intended cruise altitude during an instructional cross-country flight, the flight instructor noticed the airplane was not accelerating to the desired cruise speed. Within one or two minutes, after adjusting the mixture and applying carbuerator heat, the engine began to operate rough. The student pilot turned the airplane back toward the departure airport. As the flight proceeded, the engine roughness and power loss amplified. Approximately 9 miles southeast of the airport, the flight instructor elected to execute a precautionary landing to a dirt road. During the precautionary landing, the airplane touched down on the nose landing gear, and after impacting a ditch, the nose gear separated. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest inverted. During an examination of the engine, the single-drive dual magneto's lower timing inspection port was removed and approximately 2 cups of engine oil drained from the magneto. It was determined that the magneto driveshaft oil seal had failed allowing engine oil to enter the magneto. At the time of the accident, the engine had accumulated 2,030 hours since major overhaul.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.