NTSB DCA83IA003 — 1982-10-28 · WILMINGTON, Delaware, United States

N213DS has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA 40, built 2004), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N213DS Beech E90 None

Factual narrative

THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED SHORTLY AFTER TAKING OFF FROM THE GREATER WILMINGTON AIRPORT, WILMINGTON, DE. THE PILOT STATED THAT THE LEFT ENGINE LOST POWER AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL, JUST AS THE LANDING GEAR WAS BEING RETRACTED. HE SAID THE AUTOFEATHER WAS ARMED, BUT THE LEFT PROPELLER DID NOT AUTOMATICALLY FEATHER. HE MANUALLY FEATHERED THE LEFT PROPELLER AND CHECKED THAT THE GEAR WAS RETRACTING. THE AIRSPEED DECREASED TO ABOUT 100 KTS. HE STATED THAT HE BEGAN A DESCENT TO ACHIEVE THE BEST SINGLE ENGINE SPEED, BUT LEVEL FLIGHT COULD NOT BE SUSTAINED. REALIZING HE WAS COMMITTED TO A FORCED LANDING, HE CLIMBED TO CROSS OVER A POWER LINE, LOWERED THE GEAR AND FLAPS, THEN LANDED IN AN OPEN FIELD. DURING TOUCHDOWN, THE LEFT GEAR HIT A MOUND OF DIRT AND SEPARATED. WHILE SKIDDING TO A STOP, THE RIGHTMAIN GEAR ALSO FAILED. AN EXTENSIVE INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO REASON FOR THE ENGINE FAILURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_DCA83IA003.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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