NYC93FA158 · Cessna 172N
FRG III Cessna 172N and Cessna 172P · Accident: midair collision on approach
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's injuries. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC93FA158
- 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
- 1 · 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
Aircraft 1 · Cessna 172N
- 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
- N5226E
- Operator
- FRG III
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Lincoln Park Airport (N07)To Lincoln Park Airport (N07)
- 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 · VFR pattern base
- 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
- Midair collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Aircraft 2 · Cessna 172P
- 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
- N96135
- Operator
- Certified Pilot Center
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU), Morristown, NJTo not recorded
- 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 · VFR pattern final
- 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
- Midair collision
- 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
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
- Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Lincoln Park, NJ, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
CESSNA N96135 WAS IN RT TRAFFIC FOR THE 4TH IN A SERIES OF LANDINGS ON RWY 01, AND WAS ESTABLISHED ON FINAL WHEN THE COLLISION OCCURRED. A WITNESS OBSERVED THE OTHER AIRPLANE, CESSNA N5226E, ON BASE LEG, TURNING RIGHT FROM BASE TO FINAL, JUST PRIOR TO THE IMPACT. THE WITNESS OBSERVED N5226E STRIKE N96135 ON THE RIGHT SIDE, WHILE N5226E WAS IN A RIGHT TURN. AFTER IMPACT N5226E, FELL VERTICALLY TO THE GROUND AND IMPACTED ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE ROAD, IN A RAVINE ABOUT ONE QUARTER MILE SOUTH OF N96135'S IMPACT LOCATION. AFTER IMPACT THE PILOT OF N96135 TRIED TO MAKE THE RUNWAY, BUT COULD NOT MAINTAIN ALTITUDE, AND ELECTED TO LAND IN THE TREES. AS THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE TREES, THE RIGHT WING SEPARATED, AND STRUCK AN AUTOMOBILE TRAVELLING SOUTH ON THE ROAD. PAINT TRANSFER AND IMPACT MARKS ON N5226E WERE OBSERVED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE AIRPLANE AND THE MARKS ON N96135 WERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE. THERE WERE TWO MINOR INJURIES IN THE AUTOMOBILE.
Probable cause
THE FAILURE OF BOTH PILOTS TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT WHILE IN THE AIRPORT TRAFFIC PATTERN, WHICH RESULTED IN AN IN-FLIGHT COLLISION.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC93FA158
- Event ID
- 20001211X13215
- Case number
- NYC93FA158
- 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: 78a3dc22c3872bc8321de4722b11ace5208acf169589dcb0e9bb36c95abb653d; retrieved 2026-09-21T00:25:25.600Z.