Cessna 172 N734NW

Summary

On 2 May 2020 at about 16:30 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N734NW was involved in an accident near Fresno, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 May 2020 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Fresno, California, United States

Nearest airport

Sierra Sky Park (E79)

Coordinates

36.8403, -119.8694

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N734NW

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20LA136

1 person had minor injuries.

The partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined based on available evidence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Shortly after takeoff on runway 30, as the airplane reached about 300 to 400 ft above ground level, the engine lost partial power. The pilot prepared for a downwind landing to runway 12 and when he realized the airplane had excess energy, he deployed the flaps and performed a forward slip maneuver. The airplane touched down about halfway down the runway and continued off the end and through a fence. The airplane then passed over the two westbound lanes of a road and nosed over in the median. Examination of the engine revealed low compression on two of the six cylinders (around 25 to 75 percent compression loss on cylinder numbers 3 and 5). The valve rocker arms were tapped with a rubber mallet and compression recovered to approximately 25 percent loss in the number 3 cylinder and 15 percent loss in the number 5 cylinder. An internal borescope examination of the engine cylinders revealed the piston tops and cylinder sidewalls appeared normal and no evidence of foreign object ingestion was observed. No other pre-impact mechanical anomalies were identified during the examination. Although the reason for the low compression could not be determined, it was noted that the engine was disassembled 1.9 hours before the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.