Ownership guide
Cessna 175
524 registered in the US, built from about 1958 to 1959, 4 seats, most with the Continental GO-300. Its Airworthiness Directives, its engines', and what to check before buying one.
The fleet
- Registered in the US
- 524
- Built
- 1958 to 1959
- Half built by
- 1958
- Seats
- 4
- Engine type
- Piston
- Most common engine
- Continental GO-300
Engines installed
- Continental GO-300444 aircraft (85%) · 3 ADs, 0 with a repeat action
- Lycoming O-36031 aircraft (6%) · 24 ADs, 3 with a repeat action
- Continental O-30019 aircraft (4%) · 7 ADs, 0 with a repeat action
From the FAA aircraft registry, rebuilt daily. Years are those recorded on each registration.
Airworthiness Directives
16 current ADs name the 175 airframe, 2 with a repeat action; 3 more were superseded. Its engines carry 34 more. 7 equipment ADs name the model.
The ones that come back
ADs with a repeat action: an inspection or replacement at an interval, for as long as the AD applies. These are the airworthiness costs an owner keeps paying.
What gets reported
1 Service Difficulty Reports since 2016: a mechanic or operator files one when a part fails or is found defective.
Systems reported most
- Fuselage Miscellaneous Structure1
Parts reported most
- Angle, cracked1
The latest reports
2016-01-28 · Fuselage Miscellaneous Structure · Angle, cracked
Believe over tighting of bolt caused strain on part mounted in high vibration area.
From the FAA's Service Difficulty Reporting System, refreshed monthly. Counts of what was reported, not failure rates: most of general aviation reports voluntarily, and a busy training fleet reports more than a private one.
Accident record
39 accidents since 2008, 7 fatal (12 people killed in them, a midair counting both aircraft), 3 aircraft destroyed.
What happened
- Loss of control in flight10
- Loss of engine power (total)6
- Loss of control on ground3
- Loss of engine power (partial)3
- Low altitude operation/event2
- Hard landing2
Phase of flight
- Landing11
- Enroute10
- Takeoff6
- Approach4
- Maneuvering3
The latest
| Date | Where | What happened | Injuries | NTSB number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-23 | Aquidauana, OF | Unknown: Unknown or undetermined | Fatal | GAA25WA270 |
| 2024-11-30 | Middlegate, NV | Takeoff: Loss of control on ground | Minor | WPR25LA051 |
| 2023-08-11 | Wetumpka, AL | Enroute: Loss of engine power (partial) | None | ERA23LA331 |
| 2023-06-21 | Mesquite, TX | Landing: System or component failure (not the engine) | None | CEN23LA249 |
| 2023-05-28 | Aldermaston, OF | Enroute: Loss of engine power (total) | None | GAA23WA155 |
| 2023-01-31 | Hayden, ID | Landing: Landing gear collapse | None | WPR23LA102 |
From the NTSB's aviation accident database, refreshed monthly; accidents only, homebuilts left out. Counts, not rates: nobody publishes how many hours each model flies, and a training fleet flies far more than a private one. Look up any case by its number in the NTSB's CAROL.
What it costs to run
Per hour flown
Per year, flown or not
- Fuel
- $0/hr
- Engine reserve
- $0/hr
- A year
- $0
- All in, per hour
- $0/hr
Everything else is yours to fill in: insurance, hangar and overhaul prices vary too much by pilot, airport and shop for a default to mean anything. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Before you buy one
- Run its N-number through the AD check: every AD that names its airframe and engine, as a checklist to take to the logbooks.
- For each repeat-action AD (2 on the airframe), find the last compliance in the logbooks and when the next one is due.
- Compare the engine's time since overhaul with its maker's published overhaul time, and look for the reason behind any long gap in flying.
- Ask the mechanic doing the pre-buy to look hard at the fuselage miscellaneous structure and for cracked angles: they are what gets reported most on this model.
- 7 equipment ADs name the 175 (a muffler, a seat belt, a display): find out which of that equipment is installed.
- Check the registration, the airworthiness certificate and the date of the last annual inspection.
- Work out the sales or use tax your state will charge with the aircraft tax calculator.
The rest of the 175 family
Questions
- How many Cessna 175s are registered in the US?
- 524, in the FAA aircraft registry.
- When was the Cessna 175 built?
- From about 1958 to 1959. Half of those registered today were built by 1958.
- What engine does the Cessna 175 have?
- Most have the Continental GO-300 (85% of those registered); others have the Lycoming O-360, Continental O-300.
- What are common problems with the Cessna 175?
- In 1 Service Difficulty Reports filed with the FAA since 2016, the systems reported most were fuselage miscellaneous structure, and the part most often reported was a cracked angle.
- How many accidents has the Cessna 175 had?
- 39 in the NTSB's database since 2008, 7 of them fatal. The most common defining event was loss of control in flight. These are counts, not rates: how many hours the fleet flew is not published.
- How many Airworthiness Directives does the Cessna 175 have?
- 16 current ADs name the 175 airframe, 2 of them with a repeat action, and 34 more name its engines. Whether each applies to one aircraft depends on its serial number and installed equipment.
Figures from the FAA aircraft registry and the FAA's Airworthiness Directives, rebuilt daily. An AD listed for a model is one to read; whether it applies to one aircraft depends on its serial number, equipment and records.