Cessna 172 accident near Dunnellon, FL
On October 25, 2020, a Cessna 172 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Dunnellon, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 25, 2020
- Place
- Dunnellon, FL
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 29.083°N, 82.361°W
- NTSB ID
- 20201025102186
Official records · ERA21FA029
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 25, 2020, at 1052 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172 airplane, N724BC, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Dunnellon, Florida. The pilot/registered owner was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A review of air traffic control (ATC) communications and radar data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that the pilot was not in communication with ATC and had not filed a flight plan. The airplane departed to the south from Back Achers Airport (8FL3), Belleview, Florida, about 1034. The airplane then turned toward the southeast and flew over Lake Weir before turning onto a westerly heading toward the Marion County Airport (X35), Dunnellon, Florida, at an altitude between 1,250 and 1,300 ft mean sea level (msl). Around 1038, the airplane began a slow descent down to about 900 ft msl before climbing back up to around 1,000 ft msl. Between 1051:39 and 1052:02, the airplane decelerated from a groundspeed of about 94 knots to 47 knots, which was below the airplane’s published stall speed of 50 knots with the flaps retracted. A second later, the airplane climbed to 1,025 ft msl, then entered a descending left turn before the data ended at 1052:12. A witness saw the airplane flying low and slow in a 45º to 60º right turn. She said that the airplane sounded “like it was howling, and the engine was just barely running.” The witness described the sound of the engine as if it was not “catching” or “normally combusting.” She did not s
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing was the pilot’s exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and loss of control.
More accidents in FL
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Browse: Florida · 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.
