Cessna 172K N78938

Summary

On 20 September 2025 at about 21:33 local time, a Cessna 172K registered N78938, operated by Wings Over Texas Holdings LLC, was involved in an accident near Salisbury, Connecticut, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

20 September 2025 at 21:33

Classification

Accident

Location

Salisbury, Connecticut, United States

Coordinates

41.9271, -73.3872

Aircraft

Cessna 172K

Registration

N78938

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Wings Over Texas Holdings LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA361

2 people had minor injuries.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On September 20, 2025, about 1733 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172K, N78938, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Salisbury, Connecticut. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor reported that after departing they climbed to 7,000 ft mean sea level (msl) and had been in cruise flight for about 10 minutes when the engine rpm dropped about 100 rpm. The flight instructor turned on the carburetor heat and the engine rpm continued to drop to about 1,400 rpm as the airplane began to descend. The engine then began to “pulsate” between 1,400 and 2,000 rpm until the airplane reached about 3,500 ft msl, when the engine then experienced a total loss of power. The flight instructor reported the issue to air traffic control as soon as he noticed the engine rpm issues and was informed that the closest airport was 20 miles away. The flight instructor noted that they were flying above a racetrack and decided that would be the safest place to conduct the forced landing. He completed the “rough running engine in flight” and “engine failure during flight” checklists but was unable to restore engine power. The flight instructor subsequently conducted a forced landing to the racetrack. The airplane impacted a guardrail, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine mounts and fuselage. The airplane was retained for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.