Sept. 20, Big Bear City, Calif. / Cessna 177

At about 11:39 PDT, a Cessna 177A ditched in Big Bear Lake after losing power. The aircraft was substantially damaged but the pilot was uninjured. The airplane was on a maintenance test flight when the accident occurred. The airplane had not been run for several months when the pilot made an initial test flight, at which time the engine missed and ran roughly. This was the second maintenance test flight after the period of disuse. When the engine quit, the pilot ditched the airplane in shallow water about 50 yards from shore. The pilot crawled out of the cockpit and onto the wing of the aircraft, and waited there until rescued by boaters who had witnessed the accident.