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ATL89LA208

1989-09-02 · SPRUCE PINE, North Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 7A8

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A LOSS OF POWER FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS. THE POWER LOSS MAY HAVE BEEN DUE TO A STICKING VALVE(S).

Factual narrative

WHILE EN ROUTE TO FRANKLIN, THE PILOT EXPERIENCED A ROUGH ENGINE, AND ELECTED TO LAND IN BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA. ALL IGNITION LEADS WERE TORQUED AND THE AIRPLANE OPERATED NORMALLY. ABOUT ONE HOUR INTO THE NEXT LEG OF THE FLIGHT, THE ENGINE STARTED RUNNING ROUGH. THE PILOT ELECTED TO MAKE ANOTHER PRECAUTIONARY LANDING. AIRPLANE CRASHED 200 YARDS SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. REPORTEDLY, THE AIRPLANE HAD A HISTORY OF STICKING VALVES. THE PILOT COMPARED THE FAILING ENGINE TO THAT OF A STICKING VALVE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL89LA208.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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