Cessna 172N N734KG

Summary

On 22 May 2002 at about 05:05 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N734KG, operated by Split S Aviation, was involved in an accident near Glen Rose, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 May 2002 at 05:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Glen Rose, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.2447, -97.7261

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N734KG

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Split S Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → San Antonio

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW02LA159

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to set the ignition key to the both magnetos position, which resulted in a loss of engine power. Contributing factors were the failure of the left magneto, the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing, and the dark night.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the dark night cross-country flight, while at a cruise altitude of 2.000 feet msl, the pilot initiated a climb to 3,000 feet. A few minutes later, the engine's rpm dropped 200-300 rpm. The 67-hour pilot increased throttle to check for an rpm response. Subsequently, the engine lost power, and a forced landing was initiated. While approaching to land, the pilot noticed trees in front of the airplanes flight path and started looking for another place to land, but couldn't see anything because it was too dark. Subsequently, the aircraft impacted tress coming to rest upright. An examination of the engine under the supervision of an FAA inspector, revealed the left magneto's internal gears did not rotate with the engine. Removal of the left magneto revealed only one of two rubber drive isolators inside the ignition harness cap. Internal inspection revealed the contact points on the left hand side of the magneto did not open on rotation. Further examination of the airplane, displayed the ignition key turned to the left magneto only. The pilot reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge, that he did not touch any switch while exiting the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.