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
23 Sep 1986	Cessna 172K N78715	East Tawas, Michigan, United States	-	Fatal	2
20 Sep 1986	Cessna 172 N5481J	Overton, Nevada, United States	Fred R. Laplante	Fatal	2
24 Aug 1986	Cessna 172L N7382Q	Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States	-	Fatal	2
28 Jul 1986	Cessna 172 N96701	Bridgeport, West Virginia, United States	-	Fatal	2
20 Jul 1986	Cessna 172K N79069	Random Lake, Wisconsin, United States	-	Fatal	2
20 Jun 1986	Cessna 172I N46074	Nunica, Michigan, United States	-	Fatal	2
8 Mar 1986	Cessna 172M N72MA	Lafox, Illinois, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2
28 Dec 1985	Cessna 172B N6876X	Caddo Mills, Texas, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2
17 Nov 1985	Cessna 172N N738PL	Mt Carmel, Illinois, United States	Frank J. Altadonna	Fatal	2
27 Oct 1985	Cessna 172N N734PX	Rochester, New Hampshire, United States approximate position	U of N.h. Flying Club	Fatal	2
22 Oct 1985	Cessna 172N N3177E	Clayton, Georgia, United States	Bertrand L. Fontaine	Fatal	2
1 Oct 1985	Cessna 172 N2765U	Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States	Gilbert Webb	Fatal	2
14 Sep 1985	Cessna 172N N1423E	Block Island, Rhode Island, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2
10 Aug 1985	Cessna 172RG N6419R	Cedar Key, Florida, United States	Lakeland Aviation Corp.	Fatal	2
16 Jun 1985	Cessna 172H N3714R	Hendersonville, North Carolina, United States	-	Fatal	2
23 May 1985	Cessna 172N N4871G	Remote, Oregon, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2
19 Apr 1985	Cessna 172 P N52457	Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States approximate position	Santa FE Aviation	Fatal	2
14 Apr 1985	Cessna 172M N73708	Camp Verde, Arizona, United States	Southwest Flite Center	Fatal	2
23 Nov 1984	Cessna 172M N9589V	Lake Isabella, California, United States	-	Fatal	2
23 Nov 1984	Cessna 172G N3698L	Kingman, Arizona, United States	-	Fatal	2
14 Nov 1984	Cessna 172N N9405E	Jamul, California, United States approximate position	Border Aeronautics	Fatal	2
26 Sep 1984	Cessna 172P N52270	Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, United States	Sallisaw Aviation	Fatal	2
9 Sep 1984	Cessna 172N N46ER	Quinlan, Texas, United States	-	Fatal	2
9 Sep 1984	Cessna 172N N5289D	Lisle, Illinois, United States	-	Fatal	2
15 Aug 1984	Cessna 172I N8439L	Brockport, New York, United States	-	Fatal	2
19 Jul 1984	Cessna 172N N4950G	Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States approximate position	MacDan Aviation Corp.	Fatal	2
5 Jul 1984	Cessna 172M N9225H	Walbridge, Ohio, United States	-	Fatal	2
4 Jul 1984	Cessna 172M N9321H	St. Croix not on the map	-	Fatal	2
6 May 1984	Cessna 172RG N6293V	Dallas, Georgia, United States	Charles Brown Flying Club, Inc	Fatal	2
4 Nov 1983	Cessna 172N N739YL	Elko, Nevada, United States	-	Fatal	2
8 Sep 1983	Cessna 172N N734RL	Newport Beach, California, United States	-	Fatal	2
22 May 1983	Cessna 172P N54609	Lander, Wyoming, United States	Roger Peters	Fatal	2
26 Feb 1983	Cessna 172M N12067	Mountville, Pennsylvania, United States	Central Manor Aviation	Fatal	2
23 Feb 1983	Cessna 172N N4862G	Pineville, Louisiana, United States	-	Fatal	2
31 Oct 1982	Cessna 172M N8977V	9NM Nw Quitman, Georgia, United States	Helen K. Long	Fatal	2
23 Oct 1982	Cessna 172P N4AM	Dillon, Michigan, United States not on the map	Dillon Flying SW	Fatal	2
9 Oct 1982	Cessna 172P N5313K	Gallatin, Tennessee, United States approximate position	DON D. Reger	Fatal	2
15 Sep 1982	Cessna 172P N7335F	3NM Se Scappoos, Oregon, United States	Harry W. Martini	Fatal	2
6 Sep 1982	Cessna 172N N6339F	Lake of the Oza, Missouri, United States	Wayne Collins Merle Nelson	Fatal	2
18 Aug 1982	Cessna 172N N739UY	San Clemente, California, United States approximate position	David Montgomery	Fatal	2
14 Aug 1982	Cessna 172 N733HV	Lompoc, California, United States	John D. Martin	Fatal	2
7 Jun 1982	Cessna 172M N13687	Thomasville, Georgia, United States	Maxwell Ford Tractor Co.	Fatal	2
5 Jun 1982	Cessna 172L N19659	Meiners Oaks, California, United States	James Russell	Fatal	2
27 May 1982	Cessna 172N N4967G	Milford, Michigan, United States	Karland T. Stensel	Fatal	2
10 May 1982	Cessna 172 N78810	Morman Lake, Arizona, United States approximate position	Thayer H. Harvey	Fatal	2
10 Mar 1982	Cessna 172 N739MG	Heavener, Oklahoma, United States	JIM Hudson	Fatal	2
13 Dec 1981	Cessna 172N N734EF	Hillsboro, Kansas, United States approximate position	Odle Aviation	Fatal	2
8 Dec 1981	Cessna 172N N733PF	Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States approximate position	Island Flying	Fatal	2
8 Oct 1981	Cessna 172P N52070	Flat, Texas, United States approximate position	Mary Ann's Fly	Fatal	2
5 Jul 1981	Cessna 172G N1383F	Newburg, Missouri, United States approximate position	-	Fatal	2