Cessna 172N N739SU
8 December 2003 · Snelling, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 8 December 2003 at about 00:00 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N739SU, operated by American School of Aviation, was involved in an accident near Snelling, California, 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.
The record
- Date
- at 00:00
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Snelling, California, United States
- Coordinates
- 37.5236, -120.5697
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N
- Registration
- N739SU
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- American School of Aviation
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Atwater → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX04LA062
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
The total loss of engine power due to oil starvation caused by the failure of the engine driven oil pump.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The airplane lost engine power and collided with terrain and nosed over during a forced landing. About 5 minutes in to flight the vacuum instruments failed, then 5 minutes later, at 3,000 feet, the engine made a loud noise and black smoke entered the cockpit. The smoke seemed to originate from the engine. The engine lost power and was not responding to throttle adjustments. The aircrew selected a green field into which to perform a forced landing. During the landing touchdown the nose wheel caught the ground, and the airplane nosed over on to it's back. Examination of the engine revealed that the woodruff key linking the oil pump drive shaft to the oil pump accessory gear had sheared, resulting in oil starvation and a catastrophic failure of the engine.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Cessna 172 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Dec 2003 | Cessna 172RG | Key West, Florida, United States | Avion Jet Center, LLC | No injuries | - |
| 16 Mar 2003 | Cessna 172N | Foley, Minnesota, United States | - | Fatal | 3 |
| 12 Jul 2003 | Cessna 172S | Chandler, Arizona, United States | Angel Air | No injuries | - |
| 18 Jan 2003 | Cessna 172 | Chesapeake, Virginia, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 21 Mar 2003 | Cessna 172S | Monroe, Georgia, United States | Elite Flight Center | Fatal | 2 |
| 22 Aug 2003 | Cessna 172S | Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States | Wings, Inc. | Fatal | 3 |
All 12,209 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Jan 2003 | Cessna 414 | Palm Springs, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 15 Nov 2003 | Omf OMF-100-160 | Van Nuys, California, United States | Alliance International | Serious injuries | - |
| 16 Jan 2003 | Cessna 152 | Salinas, California, United States | Squadron 2 | No injuries | - |
| 17 Nov 2003 | Beechcraft A36TC | Visalia, California, United States | John Rodgers | Minor injuries | - |
| 22 Sep 2003 | Cessna 150F | Reedley, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 27 Sep 2003 | McClanahan STITS PLAYMATE SA-11 | Fontana, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |