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CHI89FA036

1988-12-26 · JEFFERSONVILLE, Indiana, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport JVY

N6100N has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (MD HELICOPTERS INC 369FF), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S POOR INFLIGHT DECISION IN ATTEMPTING TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT AFTER A PARTIAL ENGINE FAILURE, AND HIS ENCOUNTERING A STALL/SPIN AT LOW ALTITUDE FROM WHICH HE WAS UNABLE TO RECOVER.

Factual narrative

WITNESSES RPRTD THAT WHILE THE ACFT WAS ON THE INITIAL CLIMB AFTER TAKING OFF FROM RWY 36, THERE WAS A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENG POWER. THEY RPRTD THE ACFT ENTERED A TURN TO THE WEST & FLEW OVER TREES BETWEEN RWYS 36 & 14 AT A RELATIVELY LOW ALTITUDE. THE ACFT THEN ENTERED A STEEP LEFT TURN AS IF TO LINE UP WITH RWY 14. WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THE ACFT THEN ROLLED ABRUPTLY TO THE RIGHT, ENTERED A STEEP DESCENT & CRASHED. AN EXAM OF THE ACFT ENG REVEALED THE LEFT MAGNETO WAS LOOSE & COULD BE ROTATED IN ITS MOUNT IN EITHER DIRECTION. ALSO, WHEN THE #3 CYLINDER WAS REMOVED, IT WAS FOUND TO HAVE A CIRCUMFERENTIAL CRACK APRX HALF WAY AROUND THE HEAD. ONE EXHAUST STUD WAS MISSING FROM THE CYLINDER & THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE ENG HAD BEEN OPERATING WITH AN EXHAUST LEAK ON THE CYLINDER. THE ENG HAD ACCUMULATED ONLY 274 HRS SINCE MAJOR OVERHAUL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_CHI89FA036.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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