- Date
- June 12, 1991, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Jacksonville, FL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N79542Cessna 172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 10, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910612021389A
- Case key
- 32883
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Total loss of engine power due to fatigue failure of the oil cooler resulting in oil exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was lack of suitable terrain.
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
During cruise flt, the plt reported that the eng RPM dropped & the oil pressure was zero. During the descent for a forced landing, the engine seized. After touchdown in a field, the acft nosed over. Exam of the eng revealed that the oil cooler case was cracked due to fatigue. This allowed the oil supply to become exhausted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N79542
- Reported as
- Cessna 172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17258162
- Airframe hours
- 3,527
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sheppard, Willie J
- Registered owner
- Sheppard, Willie J
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 19, 1990 · 114 hours before
- Departed
- 09J · Jekyll Island, GA
- Destination
- SPG · St. Petersburg, FL
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 700 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.