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ATL83LA332

1983-08-21 · WAKEFIELD, Virginia, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N80FE has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (EMBRAER EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT INC EMB-505, built 2017), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

DURING FLT, THE ENG LOST POWER & THE PROPELLER STOPPED. THE PASSENGER RECALLED HEARING A 'TICKING' SOUND FROM THE ENG PRIOR TO THE POWER LOSS. ACCORDING TO THE PLT & THE PASSENGER, THE ACFT STALLED & BEGAN TO SPIN AS THE PLT TRIED TO TURN INTO A BEAN FIELD DURING A FORCED LANDING APPROACH. AN EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED A HOLE HAD BEEN BURNED THRU THE TOP OF THE #4 CYLINDER NEAR A SPARK PLUG HOLE. THE PISTON TOPS WERE FREE OF CARBON & HAD EVIDENCE OF EXCESSIVE HEAT, WHICH WOULD BE INDICATIVE OF DETONATION. THE #1 PISTON WAS SCUFFED, THERE WAS A SMALL SECTION MISSING FROM THE TOP SIDE OF THE PISTON & THERE WAS A HOLE IN THE PISTON AT THE BOTTOM COMPRESSION RING. A FUEL SAMPLE WAS CHECKED & DID NOT MEET THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR AVIATION GASOLINE, BUT HAD CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTOMOTIVE FUEL. ADDITIONALLY, CHAMPION RHB32E SPARK PLUGS WERE FOUND IN THE ENG, BUT WERE NOT APPROVED IN THE CONTINENTAL IO-360-D. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_ATL83LA332.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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