Cessna 172M accident near Union Star, Missouri, September 2, 2007
On September 2, 2007 at about 8:08 pm local time, a Cessna 172M, registered N1502V, was destroyed in an accident near Union Star, Missouri. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The student pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and the subsequent inadvertent stall while buzzing residences. Contributing to the accident was the pilot performing buzzing maneuvers.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 2, 2007 · about 8:08 pm local time
- Place
- Union Star, Missouri · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172M · all 172Ms on the register
- Registration
- N1502V · no longer on the register · serial 17263631
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot departed on the solo training flight with instructions to practice ground reference maneuvers, stalls, and steep turns in the local practice area. The accident site was not located near the practice area. Several witnesses reported seeing the airplane circling, climbing, descending, and banking steeply at low altitudes prior to the accident. Witnesses reported the airplane was in a steep left bank when the nose dropped, and the airplane impacted power lines and the terrain. The student pilot had a total of 22.7 hours of flight time. A friend and a relative of the pilot reportedly lived in the area of the accident site.
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: student
- Flight time: 23 hours in all; 23 in this make and model; 7 as pilot in command; 0 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Last inspection: annual inspection, January 1, 2007; 3,447 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: STJ St. Joseph MO at 6:47 pm
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 86°F (30°C), dew point 55°F (13°C)
- Altimeter: 30.10 inHg
- Observation at 7:53 pm from STJ, 20 miles away
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.