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BFO89FA060

1989-07-17 · CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N118FC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AGUSTAWESTLAND PHILADELPHIA CO AW119MKII, built 2022), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER INSTALLATION OF THE THROTTLE AND VARIABLE ABSOLUTE CONTROLLER ASSEMBLIES BY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL WHICH RESULTED IN A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

Factual narrative

WHILE RECEIVING VFR TRAFFIC ADVISORIES AT 10,500 FT THE PLT REPORTED A TOTAL LOSS OF POWER. THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA 1/4 MILE NW OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ARPT WHILE RECEIVING RADAR VECTORS. INVESTIGATION REVEALED A FAILURE OF THE THROTTLE CONTROL LINKAGE BETWEEN THE THROTTLE AND THE VARIABLE ABSOLUTE CONTROLLER ASSEMBLY DUE TO PROGRESSIVE WEAR. THE FAILURE WOULD HAVE ALLOWED THE THROTTLE PLATE TO VIBRATE TO THE CLOSED POSITION. FURTHER EXAM REVEALED THAT A WAVE WASHER WAS MISSING IN THE LINKAGE ASSEMBLY. THE ENGINE HAD BEEN OVERHAULED AND THE TURBOCHARGER REPLACED 24 AND 12 MONTHS RESPECTIVELY PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_BFO89FA060.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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