Cessna 172 accidents

The NTSB database holds 12,209 accidents and incidents involving the Cessna 172, recorded between 1964 to 2026. 1,728 of them were fatal (14%), and 3,521 people died.

The deadliest year was 1978, with 204 deaths.

The phase of flight recorded most often is landing (2,531 records).

Most of these records are from United States, Canada and Mexico.

517 of these records cannot be placed at all, so they appear in the list below but not on the map.

For 5,757 of them the NTSB recorded no coordinates, so their position on the map is approximate.

12,209

Records

1,728

Fatal

3,521

Deaths

14%

Share fatal

1964 to 2026

Period

Show these on the map 11,692 of 12,209 can be placed (5,757 approximate)

By decade

1960s 1,903

1970s 2,892

1980s 2,353

1990s 1,745

2000s 1,500

2010s 1,126

2020s 690

Where these happened

United States 11,825 Canada 28 Mexico 26 Unknown/Not Reported 18 Australia 16 Spain 13

Operators involved

American Flyers 20 Civil Air Patrol, Inc. 18 Embry-Riddle A 16 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 13 Civil Air Patr 12 General Aviati 10

All 12,209 records by number of deaths, then by date

Date	Aircraft	Location	Operator	Outcome	Died
1 Mar 1992	Cessna 172D N2425U	Pacific Ocean not on the map	MC Donald, REX	Fatal	2
27 Dec 1991	Cessna 172M N6623H	Sanford, Michigan, United States	La Cross, Gordon D.	Fatal	2
3 Oct 1991	Cessna 172K N758JN	Everglades City, Florida, United States approximate position	Civil Air Patrol, Inc.	Fatal	2
21 Sep 1991	Cessna 172P N65729	West Chicago, Illinois, United States	Dupage Airport Authority	Fatal	2
15 Sep 1991	Cessna 172N N4868F	Tererro, New Mexico, United States	Pegasus Flight Center	Fatal	2
6 Aug 1991	Cessna 172M N61568	Ottumwa, Iowa, United States	Air Exec, ONC.	Fatal	2
20 Apr 1991	Cessna 172N N5738J	Dunlap, Tennessee, United States	Imperial Fabricating Company	Fatal	2
9 Apr 1991	Cessna 172G N6005R	New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States approximate position	Dennis Borges	Fatal	2
4 Apr 1991	Cessna 172M N4416R	Flippin, Arkansas, United States	Ronald G. Crouthers	Fatal	2
16 Mar 1991	Cessna 172RG N6439	Buckeye, Arizona, United States	California Aviation	Fatal	2
7 Jan 1991	Cessna 172D N2165Y	Missing not on the map	Vernon, Jesse H.	Fatal	2
23 Nov 1990	Cessna 172M N9086H	Perham, Maine, United States approximate position	Air National Guard Aero Inc	Fatal	2
17 Nov 1990	Cessna 172P N51101	Atlantic Ocean not on the map	Hodge, Cleophas U.	Fatal	2
29 Sep 1990	Cessna 172N N738AQ	Neilton, Washington, United States approximate position	Wurscher, David L.	Fatal	2
15 Sep 1990	Cessna 172M N73059	Aberdeen, South Dakota, United States	-	Fatal	2
13 Sep 1990	Cessna 172N N75785	Paris, Illinois, United States	-	Fatal	2
20 Aug 1990	Cessna 172RG N6599R	Onancock, Virginia, United States approximate position	ULF D. Uhlig	Fatal	2
14 Aug 1990	Cessna 172M N9529H	Kewaunee, Wisconsin, United States	-	Fatal	2
4 Jun 1990	Cessna 172RG N5117U	Onego, West Virginia, United States approximate position	Kentucky Airmotive, Inc.	Fatal	2
18 May 1990	Cessna 172N N9993G	Salinas, California, United States	California Airways	Fatal	2
10 May 1990	Cessna 172K N7268G	Mayaguez approximate position	Isla Grande Fly. School & SRV.	Fatal	2
8 Apr 1990	Cessna 172E N39155	Santa Paula, California, United States	-	Fatal	2
17 Mar 1990	Cessna 172N N734JE	Montezuma, Georgia, United States	-	Fatal	2
17 Mar 1990	Cessna 172N N76026	Bedford, Virginia, United States	Virginia Aviation	Fatal	2
21 Dec 1989	Cessna 172N N2228E	Nordland, Washington, United States	-	Fatal	2
6 Nov 1989	Cessna 172 N5624A	Safford, Arizona, United States approximate position	Kenneth C. Olson	Fatal	2
16 Oct 1989	Cessna 172N N733WK	Eddyville, Kentucky, United States	Red OAK Aviation Club, Inc.	Fatal	2
24 Sep 1989	Cessna 172N N1063F	Ochopee, Florida, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2
18 Sep 1989	Cessna 172N N739XX	Afton, Wyoming, United States	France Flying Service, Inc	Fatal	2
26 May 1989	Cessna 172P N65777	Davie, Florida, United States approximate position	City of Fort Lauderdale	Fatal	2
21 May 1989	Cessna 172M N1272U	Bradford, Vermont, United States approximate position	Zackery A. Clark	Fatal	2
3 May 1989	Cessna 172P N5253K	Burnet, Texas, United States	-	Fatal	2
17 Mar 1989	Cessna 172M N80542	Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States	-	Fatal	2
20 Feb 1989	Cessna 172 N3937F	Blue Mountain, Mississippi, United States	-	Fatal	2
21 Jan 1989	Cessna 172 N5834A	Hartsville, Tennessee, United States	-	Fatal	2
24 Dec 1988	Cessna 172 N8193B	Wadsworth, Ohio, United States	-	Fatal	2
22 Oct 1988	Cessna 172N N9372E	Petaluma, California, United States	Aeroventure Clubs, Inc.	Fatal	2
19 Oct 1988	Cessna 172P N52222	Union City, California, United States	-	Fatal	2
17 Sep 1988	Cessna 172N N6586J	Adams, Massachusetts, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2
3 Aug 1988	Cessna 172P N62541	Post Mills, Vermont, United States approximate position	Ormand E. Schade	Fatal	2
18 May 1988	Cessna 172P N212FR	Le Flore, Oklahoma, United States	-	Fatal	2
24 Feb 1988	Cessna 172N N5211E	Kissimmee, Florida, United States approximate position	Florida Air Center, Inc.	Fatal	2
23 Jan 1988	Cessna 172 N5113A	Temple City, California, United States	-	Fatal	2
23 Oct 1987	Cessna 172RG N9875B	Llano, Texas, United States	G.t. Plus Three FLT Opeations	Fatal	2
5 Sep 1987	Cessna 172P N65721	Cabin, West Virginia, United States	-	Fatal	2
16 Aug 1987	Cessna 172C N1418Y	Switz City, Indiana, United States	-	Fatal	2
20 Jun 1987	Cessna 172A N7189T	Tomah, Wisconsin, United States	-	Fatal	2
31 Jan 1987	Cessna 172P N62127	Cuyama, California, United States	Monterey Flyers, Inc.	Fatal	2
15 Dec 1986	Cessna 172K N736XP	El Reno, Oklahoma, United States	-	Fatal	2
17 Oct 1986	Cessna 172N N1048F	Altadena, California, United States	American Flyers, Inc.	Fatal	2