# Accident 19791209040349A: Cessna 172M, Huntington Beac, CA, December 9, 1979

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 9, 1979, 11:05 local time
- Place: Huntington Beac, CA
- Airport: Meadowlark
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Unauth Low Level Opns
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.6980° N, 118.0038° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Huntington Beach, CA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.6980&lon=-118.0038&mi=10
- Aircraft: N20647, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N20647-1980-07-28) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 172M (registry code 2072418, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172m) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172M
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 2
- Pilot flight hours: 265 total, 0 in this make and model, 1 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX80FA023](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX80FA023) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19791209040349A

## Narrative

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

DEPARTED VFR INTO AREA OF DENSE FOG AND HAZE. LOST CONTROL. AIRCRAFT CRASHED IN OCEAN.

## 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 LAX80FA023](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX80FA023), Dec 9, 1979: Cessna 172M (N20647), Huntington Bch, CA, destroyed, 3 fatal

## Other reports on N20647 (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Incident 19780711043279I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19780711043279I), Jul 11, 1978: Cessna 172M (N20647), Huntington Beac, CA, Substantial damage. Pilot chocked the wheels and propped the engine. It got away, collided with four parked planes before stopping.

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.