FTW96LA204 · Cessna 172G
Cessna 172G · Accident: loss of engine power while maneuvering
From Okmulgee Regional Airport (OKM) to C David Campbell Field Corsicana Municipal Airport (CRS)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW96LA204
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Cessna 172G
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N202EX
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Okmulgee Regional Airport (OKM)To C David Campbell Field Corsicana Municipal Airport (CRS), Corsicana, TX
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Maneuvering
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of engine power
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Ignition system, ignition switch › Malfunction
- Ignition system, ignition switch › Worn
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, compliance with ad, not complied with
- Pilot in command › Maintenance, compliance with ad, not complied with
- Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, intentional
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
En route at 6,000 feet MSL, a total loss of engine power occurred. The airplane was being vectored to the nearest airport when the pilot restarted the engine. The pilot landed without further incident and troubleshooting by the pilot and a mechanic did not reveal any obvious problems. Following 2 ground run-ups, the flight departed the airport and the pilot performed a series of maneuvers at 4,000 feet MSL above the airport. During the on course turn, a total loss of engine power occurred, and the pilot performed a forced landing. The airplane landed short of runway 17, and during the landing flare/touchdown the left wing struck a tree. The last annual inspection was logged on March 5, 1996, and the mechanic stated 'AD's current' with the airplane and engine found to be 'airworthy and approved for return to service.' No mention was made of compliance with AD 76-07-12 which requires a functional check of the ignition switch to be performed every 100 hours. During an engine test run, the engine would operate intermittently through the ignition switch position. Internal points of the switch were worn and exhibited evidence of arcing.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S CONTINUED OPERATION WITH KNOWN DEFICIENCIES IN THE AIRPLANE AND THE PILOT'S AND MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL'S FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH AN AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE RESULTING IN THE MALFUNCTIONING OF A WORN IGNITION SWITCH. A FACTOR WAS TREES.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW96LA204
- Event ID
- 20001208X05757
- Case number
- FTW96LA204
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: daa6c4d4afa8037f13285c2977ff161dd94d464c5eb39a62c23787d17133a552; retrieved 2026-09-21T21:51:29.143Z.