NTSB FTW85LA304 — 1985-08-03 · ARCADIA, Louisiana, United States

Current FAA registration · N5045H

Make / Model: CESSNA 172M
Year of manufacture: 1975 · 10 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19750530
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A64BDB

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N5045H Cessna 172 M None

Factual narrative

THE PLT STATED HE HEARD A 'BOOM' AND EXPERIENCED A PARTIAL POWER LOSS WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 10 FT ABOVE THE RWY DURING THE INITIAL TAKEOFF CLIMB. HE WAS ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN THE 3000 FOOT RWY AT THIS TIME. HE ABORTED THE TAKEOFF AND LANDED. HOWEVER, HE WAS NOT ABLE TO STOP THE ACFT UNTIL IT HAD OVERRAN THE RWY AND COLLIDED WITH A DITCH ABOUT 30 YARDS BEYOND THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RWY. SUBSEQUENT EXAM REVEALED THE ENG WOULD OPERATE NORMAL AT LOW RPM BUT AFTER 20 SECONDS AT TAKEOFF POWER THE FUEL MIXTURE WOULD BECOME TOO RICH AND A CONSIDERABLE DROP IN RPM WOULD OCCUR. THE CARBURETOR WAS DISASSEMBLED AND EXAMINED BUT THE CAUSE OF THE POWER REDUCTION WAS NOT NOTED. ALSO, THE CAUSE OF THE REPORTED 'BOOM' WAS NOT DETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_FTW85LA304.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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