Undetermined · NTSB CEN20LA392
Cessna 172 — Cottage Grove, MN
| Date | September 13, 2020 |
| Location | Cottage Grove, MN |
| Aircraft | Cessna 172 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Unknown Unknown or undetermined |
| Pilot age | 23 |
| Pilot total time | 300 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | 300 hrs |
| Fatalities | 3 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Flight crew
- Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined
What happened
The accident flight was a “discovery flight” arranged by the rear seat passenger for his girlfriend, the front seat passenger. A flight instructor was seated in the right front seat. Flight track information revealed that, about four minutes after departure at an altitude of about 1,900 ft, the airplane entered a steep descent that continued until water contact. The airplane was destroyed when it impacted the water.
Examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, and no evidence of a bird strike. Visual meteorological conditions were present in the area at the time of the accident.
Available medical information provided no evidence that the CFI had any medical condition,
substance use, or toxic exposure that contributed to the accident. Based on the absence of detected
ethanol in the CFI’s urine, it is likely that ethanol detected in his cavity blood was from sources other
than ingestion.
Given the available information, the reason for the airplane’s impact with terrain could not be determined.