Cessna 172 accident near Branchville, NJ
On November 11, 2021, a Cessna 172 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Branchville, NJ. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- November 11, 2021
- Place
- Branchville, NJ
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 41.079°N, 74.478°W
- NTSB ID
- 20211111104237
Official records · ERA22FA058
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Tower Camera Memorandum: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On November 11, 2021, about 1048 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172S, N90559, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Hampton Township, New Jersey. The flight instructor and a private pilot were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. A witness in the vicinity of the accident site reported that he heard an airplane maneuvering near his home and noticed various engine pitch changes. He listened to the airplane for a few minutes before returning home. Upon his return, emergency vehicles were in his driveway, prompting him to report what he heard to the authorities. An airplane performance study was conducted using data from the airplane's Garmin G1000 integrated flight instrument system. The G1000 recorded time, position, altitude, attitude, airspeed, acceleration, and engine parameters. The data indicated that the flight departed Essex County Airport (CDW), Caldwell, New Jersey, around 1029. The airplane climbed to a cruise altitude of about 6,400 ft and maintained a northwesterly heading for the first 17 minutes of the flight. At 10:46:30, the airspeed began to decrease due to a power reduction from about 2,400 rpm to 1,300 rpm. Shortly before 1047, the airplane pitched nose up, reaching a maximum pitch attitude of about 37° at 10:47:04 as the airspeed slowed to 28 knots indicated. At 10:47:10, the airplane reached a left-wing-down bank angle of 102° and a nose-down pitch attitude of 79°. The G1000 recorded the airplane’s descent rate at over 8,000 ft/minute 3 second
Probable cause
The flight instructor’s failure to recover from a steep spiral turn during an instructional flight.
More accidents in NJ
- Piper PA-32R-300, Aug 8, 2009
- Bell 206L-4, Apr 10, 2025
- Socata TBM 700, Dec 20, 2011
- Cessna T337G, Feb 15, 2010
- Piper PA-28-236, May 31, 2006
Browse: New Jersey · 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.
