What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) On March 15, 2002 at about 1935 EST, Cessna 172P, N96811, crashed into the atlantic Ocean while on approach to the Ocean City airport, Ocean City, MD. The weather at the time of the crash was visual meteorological conditions. The pilot/owner and three other passengers were killed in the accident. The pilot and one of the three passengers bodies were not recovered. There were two witnesses to the accident, the first witness was an airline transport pilot who was flying a mitsubishi MU-2, a small turbo prop airplane into the airport, he was approximately 12 miles away when he saw the strobe light of the accident airplane on what appeared to be down wind for runway 20 he stated that he saw the airplanes strobe light go straight in. The second witness stated that she saw the airplanes strobe lights through the window of her home on the shore. She first thought that it was a helicopter because it was so low. She said that the airplane was traveling south to north along the coast. Then, they swung out into the Ocean and made a half turn and then they went straight in and straight down. The accident scene was not accessible, various parts of the aircraft were recovered from the Ocean but yielded no clues.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) ON MARCH 15, 2002 AT ABOUT 1935 EST, CESSNA 172P, N96811, CRASHED INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN WHILE ON APPROACH TO THE OCEAN CITY AIRPORT, OCEAN CITY, MD. THE WEATHER AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH WAS VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. THE PILOT/OWNER AND THREE OTHER PASSENGERS WERE KILLED IN THE ACCIDENT. THE PILOT AND ONE OF THE THREE PASSENGERS BODIES WERE NOT RECOVERED. THERE WERE TWO WITNESSES TO THE ACCIDENT, THE FIRST WITNESS WAS AN AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT WHO WAS FLYING A MITSUBISHI MU-2, A SMALL TURBO PROP AIRPLANE INTO THE AIRPORT, HE WAS APPROXIMATELY 12 MILES AWAY WHEN HE SAW THE STROBE LIGHT OF THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE ON WHAT APPEARED TO BE DOWN WIND FOR RUNWAY 20 HE STATED THAT HE SAW THE AIRPLANES STROBE LIGHT GO STRAIGHT IN. THE SECOND WITNESS STATED THAT SHE SAW THE AIRPLANES STROBE LIGHTS THROUGH THE WINDOW OF HER HOME ON THE SHORE. SHE FIRST THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A HELICOPTER BECAUSE IT WAS SO LOW. SHE SAID THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS TRAVELING SOUTH TO NORTH ALONG THE COAST. THEN, THEY SWUNG OUT INTO THE OCEAN AND MADE A HALF TURN AND THEN THEY WENT STRAIGHT IN AND STRAIGHT DOWN. THE ACCIDENT SCENE WAS NOT ACCESSIBLE, VARIOUS PARTS OF THE AIRCRAFT WERE RECOVERED FROM THE OCEAN BUT YIELDED NO CLUES.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.