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ATL92LA156

1992-08-10 · GAINESVILLE, Georgia, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GVL

N920C has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PIPER PA 46-350P, built 2014), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE POOR INFLIGHT DECISION BY THE PILOT IN COMMAND IN THAT AFTER A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER, HE SHUT DOWN THE WRONG ENGINE, DID NOT FOLLOW THE EMERGENCY CHECKLIST, DID NOT RAISE THE FLAPS, AND DID NOT RETRACT THE LANDING GEAR. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE INFLIGHT COLLISION WITH BIRDS DURING THE TAKEOFF CLIMB.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT IMMEDIATELY AFTER TAKEOFF, HE HAD A COLLISION WITH A FLIGHT OF BIRDS. HE STATED THAT THE RIGHT ENGINE IMMEDIATELY HAD A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER. HE STATED THAT HE DID NOT ATTEMPT TO RAISE THE LANDING GEAR NOR THE FLAPS FOLLOWING THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER, AND THE AIRCRAFT WOULD NOT MAINTAIN ALTITUDE. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRCRAFT ENGINES REVEALED THAT THERE WAS ROTATIONAL SCRATCHING OF THE TURBINE HOUSINGS ON THE RIGHT ENGINE, AND NO ROTATIONAL SCRATCHING ON THE TURBINE HOUSING OF THE LEFT ENGINE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_ATL92LA156.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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