Cessna 172 accident near Cedar Key, Florida, February 22, 2005
On February 22, 2005 at about 7:24 pm local time, a Cessna 172, registered N739NK, was destroyed in an accident near Cedar Key, Florida (George T Lewis airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed during an abrupt maneuver to avoid a power line, which resulted in an inadvertent stall, a loss of control, and subsequent collision with terrain-water. Factors associated with the accident were low a ceiling, fog, a transmission wire, and an inadvertent stall.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 22, 2005 · about 7:24 pm local time
- Place
- Cedar Key, Florida · George T Lewis · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172 · all 172s on the register
- Registration
- N739NK · no longer on the register · serial 172-70672
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The non-instrument rated private pilot departed on a cross-country, 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight in a rented airplane. According to the operator who rented the airplane to the pilot, the pilot told him that he was planning to fly to a community about 135 miles south of the departure airport and return. About two hours after the airplane had departed, residents of a coastal community about 43 miles west of the departure airport, reported hearing a low flying airplane. All consistently stated that at the time of the accident, low clouds and fog substantially reduced visibility. One witness, a private pilot, said he saw the airplane fly out of a fog bank, about 20 feet above the water, over the tidal bay waters next to his home. He said it was headed towards a set of power lines that stretched across the bay, and just before the airplane struck the power lines, it pitched up abruptly and climbed over the power lines. After the airplane had cleared the power lines, he said it stalled, with the nose of the airplane dropping abruptly. The airplane subsequently collided with shallow tidal water and a dock in a nose down attitude.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 310 hours in all; 75 in the last 90 days
- Last flight review: March 1, 2004
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,159 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, February 1, 2005; 80 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Aero Engines O-320-H2AD (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Ocala Aviation Services, Inc.
The flight
- Departed from: KOCF Ocala FL at 5:15 pm
- Destination: F13 Punta Gorda FL
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 0.1 statute miles
- Sky: vv
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.