ATL87FA136
1987-05-10 · COLLIERVILLE, Tennessee, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport 54M
N25020 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (POWRACHUTE PEGASUS, built 2002), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
IT WAS REPTD THAT THE PLT WAS TAKING HIS PAX UP FOR A LCL PHOTOGRAPHIC FLT AT THE REQ OF THE PAX. WITNESSES REPTD THAT THE ACFT REMAINED OVER THE APT FOR TWO OR THREE CIRCUITS AND THEN DEPTD THE AREA IN THE DIR OF COLLIERVILLE. WITNESSES NEAR THE CRASH SITE REPTD THAT THE ACFT WAS MANEUVERING AT LOW ALTITUDE. IT WAS THEN REPTD THAT THE ENGINE SPUTTERED AND THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED TO BE IN A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE. THE ACFT WAS THEN OBSERVED TO ROLL TO THE RIGHT AND DIVE INTO A RESIDENCE. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT CONDITIONS WERE CONDUCIVE TO SERIOUS CARBURETOR ICING. IN ADDITION, THE ENG PRIMER WAS FOUND UNLOCKED AND FOUR CYL HOLD DOWN STUDS FOR THE #2 CYL WERE FOUND FAILED AS A RESULT OF FATIGUE CRACKS. AN EXHAUST CRACK IN THE #2 CYL EXHAUST MANIFOLD EXHIBITED EVIDENCE OF A 1/2 INCH LONG BLOWBY LEAK. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1987_ATL87FA136.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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