# Accident 20020315018769A: Cessna 172P, Ocean City, MD, March 15, 2002

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 15, 2002, 18:30 local time
- Place: Ocean City, MD
- Airport: Ocean City Municipal Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 38.2936° N, 75.1006° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.2936&lon=-75.1006&mi=10
- Aircraft: N96811, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N96811-2013-02-26) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 172P (registry code 2072436, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172p) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming 0-320 series (registry code 41508, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172P
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 4
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD02FA037](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD02FA037) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020315018769A

## Narrative

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

(-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.

## 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 IAD02FA037](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD02FA037), Mar 16, 2002: Cessna 172P (N96811), Ocean City, MD, destroyed, 4 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's spatial disorientation, which resulted in his subsequent loss of control of the airplane. A factor was the dark night, over water visual conditions.

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.