Cessna 172Q N96145

Summary

On 17 January 2020 at about 03:00 local time, a Cessna 172Q registered N96145 was involved in an accident near Big Timber, Montana, 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

17 January 2020 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Timber, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Big Timber (6S0)

Coordinates

45.8100, -109.9800

Aircraft

Cessna 172Q

Registration

N96145

Category

Airplane

Year built

1983

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Billings → Big Timber

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20LA068

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power during climbout for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot departed on an instructional flight to a nearby airport in dark night conditions. After an uneventful inbound flight, the student pilot configured the airplane to land, but then elected to perform a go-around due to the airplane’s high altitude during the approach. The instructor instead asked the student pilot to overfly the runway. After the airplane reached the departure end of the runway, the student pilot started a climb; as the airplane was passing 250 ft above ground level (agl), the engine lost power, followed by vibration-induced noise. The instructor took control of the airplane and turned the airplane back towards the airport as he struggled to maintain airspeed. The airplane subsequently impacted frozen ground during the descent and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. Both the instructor and student pilot reported a loss of engine power and an abnormal sound described by the instructor as a vibration-induced noise. The instructor later recalled that the airplane lost all power, which could not be confirmed because evidence obtained from the propeller examination suggested the propeller was likely rotating under power at the time of impact. The reason for the loss of power, the vibration-induced noise, and amount of power produced by the engine at the time of impact could not be determined due to lack of available evidence and postimpact damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.