Cessna 172S N787LF

Summary

On 13 July 2025 at about 18:06 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N787LF, operated by Fly North of Known LLC., was involved in an accident near Sisters, Oregon, United States. 3 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

13 July 2025 at 18:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Sisters, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Sisters Eagle Air (6K5)

Coordinates

44.3045, -121.5391

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N787LF

Category

Airplane

Year built

2011

Engines

1

Operator

Fly North of Known LLC.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Aurora

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR25LA211

1 person was seriously injured.

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 July 13, 2025, about 1106 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172S, N787LF, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Sisters, Oregon. The flight instructor was seriously injured, and the student pilot and pilot rated passenger sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. On the day of the accident the trio met at Aurora State Airport (UAO), Aurora, Oregon, for a local area flight. The pilot-rated passenger stated that she does not fly frequently arranged for the flight instructor to act as a safety pilot, while she initially flew the first leg of the flight. They originally wanted to fly toward the coast but due to poor weather conditions they opted to fly to Sisters Eagle Air Airport (6K5), Sisters, Oregon. After landing at 6K5, the airplane was secured, and they went into town. After returning to the airplane, they decided that the return flight to UAO would be a discovery flight for the student pilot. The flight instructor was seated in the front right seat; the student pilot was seated in the front left seat and the pilot rated passenger was seated in the left rear seat. The student pilot and pilot rated passenger noted that the flight instructor did not conduct a preflight inspection of the airplane or use any checklist while starting the engine or while taxiing the airplane for takeoff. The flight instructor reported that upon returning to the airport, he made note of the temperature and estimated they had enough runway to clear the 50 ft obstacles. For the return flight, the pilot rated passenger wanted the flight to be the student pilot’s first introductory flight. The flight instructor configured the airplane with 10° flaps extended, leaned the engine for best power, and utilized the displaced threshold for both taxiing and takeoff on runway 2. He believed the engine was not developing full power, as the airspeed was not building as quickly as he expected. The airplane lifted off the ground, however, had insufficient engine power to sustain the initial climb. The airplane was in a nose-high attitude and the flight instructor realized that the airplane could stall. He lowered the nose and placed the airplane in a “coordinated stall,” while directing the airplane toward an open area. Subsequently, the airplane collided with trees and impacted terrain. After the airplane had came to rest, the student pilot exited the airplane and then assisted both the pilot rated passenger and flight instructor with exiting the airplane. As they exited the airplane, it caught fire. A pilot-rated witness near the accident location reported that, while at 6K5, he watched the airplane taxi to the runway, and takeoff to the north. He further observed that during the takeoff initial climb, the airplane had a high angle of attack and appeared to narrowly miss the tree line, and shortly thereafter made a sharp left turn, and continued line of sight. Shortly after, the witness then saw a cloud of dust followed by a plume of black smoke. He added that he did not hear any engine anomalies during the takeoff. The wreckage was recovered for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.