# Accident 19790704032139A: Cessna 172M, Kitty Hawk, NC, July 4, 1979

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 4, 1979, 18:30 local time
- Place: Kitty Hawk, NC
- Airport: First Flight
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Climb
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 36.0176° N, 75.6716° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at FIRST FLIGHT (FFA), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.0176&lon=-75.6716&mi=10
- Aircraft: N20739, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N20739-1981-12-21) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 172M (registry code 2072418, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172m) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172M
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 4
- Pilot flight hours: 122 total, 86 in this make and model, 19 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD79FA061](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD79FA061) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19790704032139A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

VFR LOW TIME PLT DEPARTED INTO AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ACFT LOST WING IN FLT BY EXCEEDING LOAD FACTORS.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB IAD79FA061](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD79FA061), Jul 4, 1979: Cessna 172 (N20739), Kitty Hawk, NC, destroyed, 5 fatal

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.