No fatalities

CESSNA 172M accident at Santa Ana, CA, 1 Apr 2023

Santa Ana, CA, United States

On April 1, 2023, a CESSNA 172M operated by OC 172 GROUP LLC was involved in an aviation accident near Santa Ana, CA. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The flight instructor’s failure to maintain clearance from a commercial airliner which resulted in an encounter with wake turbulence and subsequent loss of control resulting in impact with terrain. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s failure to maintain clearance from a commercial airliner which resulted in an encounter with wake turbulence and subsequent loss of control resulting in impact with terrain.

— NTSB Determination

Contributing factors

Ability to respond/compensateDescent/approach/glide path — Not attained/maintainedStudent/instructed pilot