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ATL88FA137

1988-04-09 · FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FAY

N66L has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CHAMPION 7GCBC, built 1966), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED A FUEL PUMP PROBLEM TO FAYETTEVILLE TOWER AND REQUESTED LANDING. THE PILOT WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RUNWAY 04. THE CONTROLLER NOTICED THAT THE PILOT HAD NOT LOWERED THE LANDING GEAR. THE PILOT WAS QUESTIONED CONCERNING THE GEAR. INSTEAD OF CONTINUING THE APPROACH THE PILOT TURNED WEST AND WAS OBSERVED CIRCLING, THEN FALLING BELOW THE TREE LINE. THE WRECKAGE SITE EXAMINATION DISCLOSED THAT THE AIRPLANE CRASHED IN NOSE LOW ATTITUDE ALONG A TREE LINE SOUTH OF AN OPEN FIELD. THE EXAMINATION ALSO DISCLOSED THAT THE FUEL PUMPS ON THE LEFT ENGINE HAD FAILED. THE ENGINE DRIVEN PUMP HAD A SHAFT FAILURE. THE BOOST PUMP HAD AN INTERNAL SHORT. THE LEFT PROPELLER WAS IN THE FEATHER POSITION. THE OPEN FIELD HAD AMPLE SPACE FOR AN EMERGENCY LANDING. THE RIGHT ENGINE WAS STILL CAPABLE OF OPERATION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_ATL88FA137.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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