- Date
- January 23, 1986, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mcallen, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N20889Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860123001059A
- Case key
- 22151
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft crashed into two trees during a forced landing after the eng lost pwr. The plt was in the process of lndg at an arpt when the controller asked him to make a 360 turn because of traffic and to use rwy 13 instead of 18. As the plt turned rt for a new base leg the eng stopped. The plt never advised the twr of a low fuel state or asked for emergency priority lndg. The plt was unable to restart the eng and lnded in a wooded area. The crash ruptured the fuel lines but the investigation revealed no evidence of fuel spillage or fuel in any of the acft tanks.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20889
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263866
- Airframe hours
- 2,265
- Engine
- Continental O-320-EZD, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert Harriss
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 13, 1985
- Departed
- Rancho Tancasiv, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- MFE · Miller International Arpt, runway 13, 7,103 × 150 ft
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.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,244 total · 190 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 90° at 9 knots
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MFE, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.