- Date
- July 9, 2025, 18:20 local (10:20 UTC)
- Place
- Century, FL · Peanut Field
- NTSB coordinates
- 30.0000, -87.0000 (estimated), outside the stated state
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N3254CCessna 172H
- Defining event
- Emergency descent: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250709009369A
- Case key
- 200503
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On July 9, 2025, about 1820 central daylight time, a Cessna 172, N3254C, was involved in an accident near Century, Florida. The pilot and the passenger were not injured. The flight was conducted as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot departed the Atmore Municipal Airport (0R1), Atmore, Alabama, about 1800 for a local flight. About 20 minutes later, while cruising at 1,500 ft mean sea level (msl), the engine suddenly stopped producing power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine and made a forced landing to a peanut field. When the airplane touched down, it nosed over resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The airplane was recovered from the accident site and retained for further examination.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3254C
- Reported as
- Cessna 172H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17256156
- Built
- 1967
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 14, 2025
- Departed
- 0R1 · Atmore, AL
- Airport
- N/A
- Equipment
- ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- KNSE, 29 nm away
- METAR
- KNSE 092356Z 24008KT 10SM SCT050 SCT100 BKN250 31/23 A3002
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N3254C · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.