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ATL90FA157

1990-08-09 · GREENWOOD, South Carolina, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GRD

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER EMERGENCY PROCEDURE BY SHUTTING DOWN THE WRONG ENGINE, WHICH RESULTED IN A FORCED LANDING. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: FAILURE OF THE NUMBER THREE INTAKE VALVE IN THE RIGHT ENGINE DUE TO FATIGUE, AND TREES IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA.

Factual narrative

THE RIGHT ENGINE LOST POWER DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB AFTER LIFT-OFF. A WITNESS HEARD A NOISE & OBSERVED FLAMES COMING FROM THE RIGHT ENGINE COWLING AS THE AIRPLANE CLIMBED. THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A TURN AFTER CLIMBING ABOUT 200 FT, DESCENDED THROUGH A SMALL GROVE OF TREES, CRASHED IN A PASTURE, AND BURNED. DURING TAKEOFF, THE PLANE'S GROSS WEIGHT WAS ABOUT 11,050 LBS & THE CG WAS BEHIND THE AFT LIMIT. ITS MAXIMUM CERTIFIED WEIGHT LIMIT WAS 9700 LBS. THE PILOT WAS AWARE OF A GROSS WEIGHT PROBLEM BEFORE TAKEOFF. AN EXAM REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT THE LEFT ENGINE PROPELLER WAS IN THE FEATHERED POSITION & THE RIGHT PROPELLER WAS NOT FEATHERED AT IMPACT. A CHECK OF THE RIGHT ENGINE DISCLOSED THAT THE NUMBER 3 CYLINDER INTAKE VALVE HAD FAILED FROM FATIGUE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL90FA157.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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