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NYC93LA078 · Cessna 172

10 Apr 1993 · Durham, NH, United States

J.C.R. Aviation Cessna 172 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) on approach

From Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link field (BGM) to Beverly Regional Airport (BVY)

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Event

NTSB case
NYC93LA078
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
Instrument Meteorological Cond

Cessna 172

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
N8228G
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link field (BGM), Binghamton, NYTo Beverly Regional Airport (BVY), Beverly, MA
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
Approach · IFR missed approach
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
Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
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
Fuel exhaustion; 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

  • Fluid, fuel › Exhaustion
  • Pilot in command › Fuel supply, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Planning/decision, improper

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Durham, NH, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT MADE THE INSTRUMENT APPROACH TO HIS DESTINATION, BUT THE HE WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE RUNWAY AT LANDING MINIMUMS. HE ELECTED TO PROCEED TO HIS ALTERNATE AIRPORT, WHERE HE MADE TWO MORE APPROACHES WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO LAND BECAUSE OF LOW WEATHER CONDITIONS. HE THEN FLEW TO A THIRD AIRPORT, WHERE HE MADE THREE MORE UNSUCCESSFUL INSTRUMENT APPROACHES. ON THE LAST MISSED APPROACH, THE ENGINE QUIT AND THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED NO FUEL IN THE TANKS. THE WEATHER AT THE LAST AIRPORT WAS REPORTED AS CEILING 400 FEET, OBSCURED, VISIBILITY 1/4 OF A MILE WITH LIGHT DRIZZLE AND FOG. THE ILS WAS FLIGHT CHECKED BY THE FAA AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND RATED SATISFACTORY. THE PILOT SAID HE DID NOT REQUEST CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS DURING THE FLIGHT. THE PILOT HAD FLOWN APPROXIMATELY 10 HOURS DURING THE 14 HOURS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT.

Probable cause

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION AND LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE FLIGHT INTO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, FAILURE TO OBTAIN INFLIGHT WEATHER INFORMATION, AND PILOT FATIGUE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC93LA078
Event ID
20001211X12224
Case number
NYC93LA078
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: 84ef754f60c0f346b252ff058fa40b332b10582b87d0a45419790bf143fbbcc8; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:29:04.655Z.