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CHI92FA201 · Cessna 172N

7 Jul 1992 · ST PAUL, MN, United States

Wings Cessna 172N and Cessna 172M · Accident: midair collision on approach

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Event

NTSB case
CHI92FA201
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
4 · 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
N6376F
Operator
Wings
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Saint Paul Downtown Holman Field (STP)To Saint Paul Downtown Holman Field (STP)
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
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 172M

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
N5279R
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 87D · Dodge Center, MNTo Saint Paul Downtown Holman Field (STP), ST PAUL, MN
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

Cause areas

  • Atc personnel(lcl/gnd/clnc) › Identification of aircraft on radar, not performed
  • Dual student › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot in command(cfi) › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

A STUDENT & AN INSTRUCTOR (CFI) IN CESSNA 172, N6376F (76F), WERE PRACTICING TOUCH-&-GO LNDGS AS CESSNA 172, N5279R (79R), WAS ARRIVING (TRANSPORTING BLOOD FOR THE RED CROSS). AT 1640 CDT, 79R RPRTD 7 MI SE FOR LNDG. THE TWR CTLR SAW A TARGET IN THAT VCNTY (USING D-BRITE RADAR); HE TOLD 79R TO ENTER A LEFT DWNWND FOR RWY 12 & RPRT 2 MI SE. HE WAS RELIEVED AT 1643 BY A DEVELOPMENTAL CTLR (DC) & A FULL PERFORMANCE CTLR (FPC). HE BRIEFED THEM ON PSNS OF ACFT IN THE PATTERN & TOLD THEM 79R (STILL OUT OF SIGHT) WAS INBOUND FM THE SE, BUT HE DIDN'T SHOW THEM ITS PSN ON RADAR DRG THE BRIEFING. AT 1644:55, 79R MADE A CALL, SAYING THE ACFT WAS 'PRACTICALLY STRAIGHT EAST OF THE AIRPORT.' 79R NEVER RPRTD ON DWNWND, ALTHO TOLD AGAIN TO DO SO. THE CTLRS WERE WORKING SVRL ACFT; THEY NEITHER SIGHTED 79R, NOR USED RADAR TO FIND IT. AT 1647:06, 79R CALLED TURNING BASE FOR RWY 12. AT THAT TIME, 79R WAS TRACKING INSIDE THE FLT PATH OF 76F, AS 76F WAS IN A LEFT TURN TO FINAL APCH FOR RWY 14. ABT 25 SEC LTR, THE 2 CONVERGED, COLLIDED, THEN CRASHED TO THE GND.

Probable cause

INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE PLOTS OF BOTH AIRPLANES, WHICH RESULTED IN THEIR FAILURE TO SEE-AND-AVOID CONFLICTING TRAFFIC, AND FAILURE OF THE RELIEVING CONTROLLERS TO USE THE RADAR DISPLAY TO IDENTIFY AND SEQUENCE AN AIRPLANE ENTERING THE PATTERN. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: AN INADEQUATE BRIEFING BY THE OFF-GOING CONTROLLER, AND INACCURATE POSITION REPORTS BY THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND OF N5279R.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record CHI92FA201
Event ID
20001211X15101
Case number
CHI92FA201
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: 1575dbcdc36c78b7c0e25cfc5f6649740ef2f8edc9bfbb409609420c32796527; retrieved 2026-09-21T01:03:14.128Z.