- Date
- February 10, 1989, 17:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Ballston Spa, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N758PWCessna R172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 16, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890210002549A
- Case key
- 36377
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
Worn connecting rod bearing(s), and failure of the #1 connecting rod. A factor related to the accident was: the lack of suitable terrain for an emergency landing.
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 Cessna R172K was in a slow descent out of 2500 ft MSL, when the engine lost power. Subsequently, the pilot made an emergency landing in a field and the aircraft was substantialy damaged. A tear down of the engine revealed a broken #1 connecting rod and several worn connecting rod bearings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N758PW
- Reported as
- Cessna R172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R1723261
- Airframe hours
- 1,804
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-KB, 195 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Michael Chris/Sean Farrell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 1987 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- SCH · Scotia, NY
- Destination
- 5B2 · Ballston Spa, NY
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
- 50
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,800 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 6,630 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 19 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.