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
2 Jun 1988	Cessna 172N N3327E	Hatcher Pass, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
7 Feb 1988	Cessna 172M N20484	Red Lodge, Montana, United States	-	Fatal	3
7 Nov 1987	Cessna 172RG N9447B	Pintura, Utah, United States	-	Fatal	3
16 Oct 1987	Cessna 172RG N9693B	Refugio, Texas, United States no coordinates	Gary Haltom	Fatal	3
23 Aug 1987	Cessna 172 N8207B	Baileyville, Illinois, United States	-	Fatal	3
24 May 1987	Cessna 172 N5711A	Ritzville, Washington, United States	-	Fatal	3
31 Mar 1987	Cessna 172N N75584	Oakland, California, United States	Alameda Aero Club	Fatal	3
27 Nov 1986	Cessna 172N N4767E	Raymond, Ohio, United States	David M. Earp	Fatal	3
4 Nov 1986	Cessna 172M N3263B	Bozeman, Montana, United States	-	Fatal	3
9 Jan 1986	Cessna 172N N2113E	Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States	William Walker	Fatal	3
9 Oct 1985	Cessna 172 M N1585V	Callville Bay, Nevada, United States	-	Fatal	3
21 Sep 1985	Cessna 172PII N51698	Brinnon, Washington, United States	Ronald Hawks	Fatal	3
5 Apr 1985	Cessna 172N N23TC	White Cloud, Michigan, United States	Charles Hathaway	Fatal	3
3 Apr 1985	Cessna 172B N6923X	Smith, Nevada, United States	-	Fatal	3
30 Dec 1984	Cessna 172L N2823Q	Galveston, Texas, United States	-	Fatal	3
26 Jun 1984	Cessna 172RG N5096R	Red Feather Lak, Colorado, United States	James R. Robb	Fatal	3
24 Feb 1984	Cessna 172N N4603F	Kent, Washington, United States	-	Fatal	3
16 Oct 1983	Cessna 172M N321HR	Redfield, Arkansas, United States	-	Fatal	3
27 Sep 1983	Cessna 172E N3058U	Leesville, Louisiana, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
25 Sep 1983	Cessna 172 N8360B	Benson, North Carolina, United States	-	Fatal	3
7 Aug 1983	Cessna 172F N5259F	El Paso, Texas, United States	U S Air Force	Fatal	3
21 Apr 1983	Cessna 172P N52363	2NM E. of Blyn, Washington, United States	Michael H. Ream	Fatal	3
2 Apr 1983	Cessna 172N N734ZR	Cuero, Texas, United States	Dewayne Overholfer	Fatal	3
5 Jan 1983	Cessna 172M N9621Q	Hanover Park, Illinois, United States	Aviation Associates, Inc.	Fatal	3
29 Nov 1982	Cessna 172N N3579E	Near Rialto, California, United States no coordinates	Pioneer Aviation	Fatal	3
29 Nov 1982	Cessna 172N N737LA	12NM East of An, California, United States no coordinates	CAL Aero Flying Club, Inc.	Fatal	3
25 Nov 1982	Cessna 172K N79173	Oxford, Nebraska, United States	Robert H. Stanley	Fatal	3
30 Oct 1982	Cessna 172N N5223J	Panoche, California, United States	Clinton Lindseth	Fatal	3
17 Jul 1982	Cessna 172M N72655	Wenatchee, Washington, United States no coordinates	AVX Corporation	Fatal	3
9 May 1982	Cessna 172N N2996E	El Portal, California, United States no coordinates	Raynaire Aviation	Fatal	3
18 Apr 1982	Cessna 172N N5186D	Near Westbay, Florida, United States	Morris A. Frazier	Fatal	3
5 Mar 1982	Cessna 172 N3963F	3NM East of Mar, Utah, United States	Donald and Wanda LEE	Fatal	3
15 Nov 1981	Cessna 172 N733BJ	Wolf Lake, Minnesota, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
24 Oct 1981	Cessna 172N N6307D	Foresthill, California, United States no coordinates	Engle Fly SVC	Fatal	3
10 Oct 1981	Cessna 172 N2260E	Ft.lauderdale, Florida, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
4 Sep 1981	Cessna 172K N758EQ	Philomath, Georgia, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
20 Jul 1981	Cessna 172F N8391U	Wolf Pen, West Virginia, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
1 Jul 1981	Cessna 172D N2591Y	Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
15 May 1981	Cessna 172RG N5086U	Grants, New Mexico, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
11 Apr 1981	Cessna 172N N737FB	Atlas, Illinois, United States no coordinates	Lipcamon Aviat	Fatal	3
2 Nov 1980	Cessna 172 N75735	Linden, Michigan, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
14 Sep 1980	Cessna 172M N80738	Lime Peak, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
11 Aug 1980	Cessna 172 N737AD	Burlington, Connecticut, United States no coordinates	Interstate AVN	Fatal	3
15 Jun 1980	Cessna 172N N4929G	Boise City, Oklahoma, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
14 Jun 1980	Cessna 172N N172JB	Kahului, Hawaii, United States no coordinates	Hi.air Academy	Fatal	3
2 Jun 1980	Cessna 172G N3847L	Cape May, New Jersey, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
1 Apr 1980	Cessna 172N N5169E	Trout Lake, Washington, United States no coordinates	Davis Air SVC	Fatal	3
19 Mar 1980	Cessna 172K N4692K	Manistee, Michigan, United States no coordinates	-	Fatal	3
24 Feb 1980	Cessna 172N N2340E	Dufur, Oregon, United States no coordinates	Red Baron Flyi	Fatal	3
9 Dec 1979	Cessna 172M N20647	Huntington Bch, California, United States no coordinates	Aviation Unlim	Fatal	3