Cessna 172P accident near Chicago, IL
On July 19, 1997, a Cessna 172P (airplane) was involved in an accident near Chicago, IL. 7 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 19, 1997
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172P · Airplane
- Injuries
- 7 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 41.870°N, 87.620°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X08309
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 19, 1997, at 1807 central daylight time (cdt), a Cessna 172P, N5323K, was involved in a mid-air collision with a Beech A-36 Bonanza, N2071L, about 3 miles south of the Merrill C. Meigs Airport (Meigs), Chicago, Illinois. Cessna N5323K was operating under 14 CFR Part 91 as a sightseeing flight. Beech N2071L had a private and a commercial pilot on board. Beech N2071L was a personal flight operating under 14 CFR Part 91. N5323K and N2071L were not operating on flight plans. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The commercial pilot, student pilot and two passengers in N5323K were fatally injured. The two pilots and passenger in N2071L were fatally injured. Both airplanes were destroyed. Cessna N5323K departed Lansing, Illinois, exact time unknown. Beech N2071L departed Michigan City, Indiana, exact time unknown. Cessna N5323K was passing through Meigs Airport's Class D Airspace southbound. Beech N2071L had been cleared to land on runway 36 at the Meigs Airport and was about 3 miles south of the airport. Neither airplane had been assigned a specific transponder beacon code. Both airplanes were transmitting the visual flight rule's transponder code of 1200. The pilot of N5323K contacted the Meigs air traffic control tower controller (controller) at 1750:38, advising the controller that N5323K was "...10 miles to the south inbound for transition up the lake shore... ." The pilot advised the controller that N5323K was level at 1,900-feet above mean sea level (msl). The controller approved the transition "...north bound...
Probable cause
the pilots not maintaining visual separation between their airplanes. A factor in this accident was the pilot of the southbound airplane not reporting her position abeam the airport as directed by the ATC controller.
More accidents in IL
- Beech 1900C, Nov 19, 1996
- Beech C-45H, Sep 7, 1992
- Hawker Siddeley HS-748-2A, Oct 12, 1983
- Cessna 414A, Apr 7, 2015
- Beech BE 58, Oct 30, 1997
Browse: Illinois · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
