Cessna 172 accident near Lake Worth, FL
On May 26, 2023, a Cessna 172 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Lake Worth, FL. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 26, 2023
- Place
- Lake Worth, FL
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 26.590°N, 80.085°W
- NTSB ID
- 20230526192246
Official records · ERA23FA247
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 26, 2023, at 1118 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N3KV, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident at Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA), Lake Worth, Florida. The flight instructor and student pilot were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 instructional flight. According to airport security video, the airplane departed from runway 4, rotated and began to climb, descended, and began to climb again. The airplane then rolled right until it was in an approximate 90° right bank and continued in a right descending turn until it impacted the ground. A pilot who witnessed the accident reported that the airplane’s engine “sounded like it was full throttle the entire time.” AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONAccording to the owner of the flight school, the airplane was purchased on May 4, 2023. According to the prebuy inspection paperwork, under the visual inspection section, the mechanic “opened panels to inspect attached connections of cables” and checked the “free movement of flight control.” According to the airframe maintenance logbook, the airframe had accumulated 5,025.5 hours at the time of the accident. The most recent annual inspection was completed on September 19, 2022, at a tachometer time of 4,970.4 hours. The maintenance entry noted that the mechanic “lubricate[d] all flight control cables.” There were no other remarks about flight control cables in the maintenance entry. Finally, the mechanic noted that the work was completed in accordance with “the C-172 service manual section 2, 1
Probable cause
Maintenance personnel’s failure to detect the corroded aileron cable during recent inspections, which resulted in the separation of the aileron control cable and a subsequent loss of airplane control during takeoff.
More accidents in FL
- Grumman G-73T, Dec 19, 2005
- Beech B90, Jan 5, 1994
- Beech B-90, Sep 3, 1999
- Cessna 182B, Feb 7, 1982
- Pilatus Aircraft Ltd PC-12/47, Jun 7, 2012
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.
