Cessna 172 accident near Cottage Grove, MN
On September 13, 2020, a Cessna 172 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Cottage Grove, MN. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 13, 2020
- Place
- Cottage Grove, MN
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 44.811°N, 92.920°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200914X21238
Official records · CEN20LA392
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn September 13, 2020, at 1432 central daylight time, a Cessna 172, N8488L, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Cottage Grove, Minnesota. The flight instructor and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. According to the operator, the accident flight was a “discovery flight” arranged by the passenger for his girlfriend. Discovery flights typically included 1/2 hour of ground training and a preflight inspection of the airplane, followed by the flight, during which the front-seat passenger operated the controls to the extent possible. The male passenger was seated in the right rear seat, the female passenger was seated in the left front seat, and the flight instructor was seated in the right front seat. According to Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data, the airplane departed about 1428 and proceeded southbound until it crossed the Mississippi River, then it turned to a southeast heading. The last return from the airplane was at 1432, over Lower Grey Cloud Island at an altitude of about 1,900 ft and speed of 101 mph. The flight profile view revealed a sharp descent followed by a sharp ascent as the airplane approached Lower Grey Cloud Island; the airplane subsequently entered a steep descent that continued until impact. An aircraft performance study based on the ADS-B information indicated that the airplane lost over 1,000 ft of altitude in seven seconds: a descent rate of over 8,000 ft per minute, before impact. The pilot of an
Probable cause
A steep descent and impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
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Browse: Minnesota · 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.
