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.

6,274 of these records have no coordinates in the source data, so they appear in the list below but not on the map.

12,209

Records

1,728

Fatal

3,521

Deaths

14%

Share fatal

1964 to 2026

Period

Show these on the map 5,935 of 12,209 have coordinates

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
28 Feb 1988	Cessna 172N N5816E	Oxford, Iowa, United States	DON Nelson	Fatal	4
8 Jan 1988	Cessna 172N N4878G	Warsaw, Indiana, United States	-	Fatal	4
2 Aug 1987	Cessna 172 N8696B	Pahrump, Nevada, United States no coordinates	James W. Fleming	Fatal	4
24 Apr 1987	Cessna 172N N739RV	Lihue, Hawaii, United States	Blue Sky Aviation of Lihue	Fatal	4
11 Apr 1987	Cessna 172N N5535E	Ferguson Twnshp, Pennsylvania, United States	Nittany Aero Club	Fatal	4
11 Apr 1987	Cessna 172P N55309	Berwick, Maine, United States no coordinates	David T.allen	Fatal	4
12 Feb 1987	Cessna 172N N734MV	Fergus Falls, Minnesota, United States	-	Fatal	4
26 May 1986	Cessna 172M N13650	Cairo, New York, United States	-	Fatal	4
5 Apr 1986	Cessna 172P N99034	Seattle, Washington, United States	Kenmore Air Harbor	Fatal	4
30 Mar 1986	Cessna 172N N8423E	Del Rio, Texas, United States	Del Rio Flying Service	Fatal	4
19 Aug 1985	Cessna 172M N22198	St. Thomas no coordinates	Allen E. Kelly	Fatal	4
18 Aug 1985	Cessna 172P II N54168	Cedar City, Utah, United States	Freedom Aviation	Fatal	4
29 Jul 1985	Cessna 172M N12904	Red Devil, Alaska, United States	-	Fatal	4
18 Aug 1984	Cessna 172P N54173	Fortress Creek, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
29 Apr 1984	Cessna 172RG N6446V	Woodbury, Minnesota, United States	-	Fatal	4
2 Apr 1984	Cessna 172 N64110	Marathon, Florida, United States	-	Fatal	4
27 Nov 1983	Cessna 172L N2899G	Simpson, Louisiana, United States	-	Fatal	4
27 Nov 1983	Cessna 172P N96268	Silver Greek, New York, United States	Buffalo Airpark	Fatal	4
6 Aug 1983	Cessna 172 N64196	San Simeon, California, United States	-	Fatal	4
26 Sep 1982	Cessna 172H N8285L	Normalville, Pennsylvania, United States	Messrs.robert Mather & Foster	Fatal	4
18 Jul 1982	Cessna 172N N6215D	Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States no coordinates	Lehman Aviation	Fatal	4
15 Jul 1982	Cessna 172F N8230U	Oxbow, Oregon, United States	Hell's Canyon Navigation Compa	Fatal	4
31 May 1982	Cessna 172N N5380D	Orem, Utah, United States	Rocky Mountain Flying Club	Fatal	4
8 May 1982	Cessna 172 N8313E	Upper Lake, California, United States	Buchanan Flying Club	Fatal	4
14 Feb 1982	Cessna 172K N99WM	Hollister, California, United States no coordinates	San Jose Flying Jaguars, Inc.	Fatal	4
22 Oct 1981	Cessna 172 N21766	Kokomo, Indiana, United States no coordinates	Albatross Flyi	Fatal	4
27 Aug 1981	Cessna 172N N1967F	Adrian, Michigan, United States no coordinates	Cross Country	Fatal	4
19 Jun 1981	Cessna 172 N38181	Martin, Kentucky, United States no coordinates	Woods Air Serv	Fatal	4
18 Apr 1981	Cessna 172N N6525G	Yoakum, Texas, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
8 Nov 1980	Cessna 172M N61614	Quinault, Washington, United States no coordinates	S&W Flying SVR	Fatal	4
10 Oct 1980	Cessna 172 N7644T	Roanoke, Virginia, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
20 Jun 1980	Cessna 172N N734YT	West Liberty, Kentucky, United States no coordinates	Flytel Flying	Fatal	4
23 May 1980	Cessna 172K N64368	Big Fork, Minnesota, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
17 May 1980	Cessna 172M N9624Q	Beasley, Texas, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
6 Apr 1980	Cessna 172B N13374	Tomball, Texas, United States no coordinates	Montgomery AVN	Fatal	4
22 Nov 1979	Cessna 172RG N4760R	Lassen Peak, California, United States no coordinates	Calif Flight C	Fatal	4
4 Sep 1979	Cessna 172N N738FR	Pinnacle, North Carolina, United States no coordinates	Riggins Aviati	Fatal	4
13 May 1979	Cessna 172M N707AC	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
6 May 1979	Cessna 172N N733HG	Livermore, California, United States no coordinates	Wobbling Jenny	Fatal	4
10 Mar 1979	Cessna 172N N737XR	Dequincy, Louisiana, United States no coordinates	James Oliver H	Fatal	4
20 Dec 1978	Cessna 172N N75819	Ada, Oklahoma, United States no coordinates	Universal Avia	Fatal	4
20 Feb 1978	Cessna 172N N737MQ	Lubbock, Texas, United States no coordinates	Avtech Aviatio	Fatal	4
3 Dec 1977	Cessna 172M N9564V	Tucson, Arizona, United States no coordinates	Yeldaoh Invest	Fatal	4
13 Nov 1977	Cessna 172M C-GSKO	Newport, Washington, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
4 Nov 1977	Cessna 172K N7330G	Willits, California, United States no coordinates	Amelia Reid	Fatal	4
16 Sep 1977	Cessna 172 N7645G	Lauderhill, Florida, United States no coordinates	Trainaire	Fatal	4
7 Jun 1977	Cessna 172M N80078	Gordon, Nebraska, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4
19 May 1977	Cessna 172M N20548	Lahaina, Hawaii, United States no coordinates	Island Pacific	Fatal	4
14 May 1977	Cessna 172 N9213H	Dana Point, California, United States no coordinates	Dean Aviation	Fatal	4
25 Mar 1977	Cessna 172 N4181F	Payson, Arizona, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	4