Aviation Crash Map

Cessna 172S N396TA

7 December 2003 · Watsonville, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 7 December 2003 at about 00:42 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N396TA was involved in an accident near Watsonville, California, United States. One person was 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 00:42
Classification
Accident
Location
Watsonville, California, United States
Coordinates
36.9494, -121.8036
Aircraft
Cessna 172S
Registration
N396TA
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
San Martin → Monterey
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX04LA060

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane nosed over during a forced landing in a muddy field following a total loss of engine power. The pilot was en route to Monterey at 2,400 feet mean sea level (msl), in instrument meteorological conditions, when the engine lost power and failed to restart after three attempts. The pilot stated that he had 10 gallons of fuel in the right and left fuel tanks. The airplane remained inverted in the field for a period of time due to the muddy conditions that made access and recovery very difficult. After recovery of the aircraft, 4 gallons of fuel was found in the right tank and 1.75 gallons were in the left tank. The fuel selector was positioned to the "Both" position and fuel was found in all components of the fuel system. Examination of the engine revealed no condition that would have prevented normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

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All 12,209 records for this type

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Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
14 Jan 2003 Cessna 414
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Palm Springs, California, United States - Serious injuries -
15 Nov 2003 Omf OMF-100-160
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16 Jan 2003 Cessna 152
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17 Nov 2003 Beechcraft A36TC
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22 Sep 2003 Cessna 150F
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27 Sep 2003 McClanahan STITS PLAYMATE SA-11
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All 170,864 records in United States