NTSB DCA87MA024 — 1987-04-08 · TRAVIS AFB, California, United States

N517SJ has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CAMERON BALLOONS US Z-105, built 2022), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N517SJ Lockheed L-382G Fatal

Factual narrative

CRASHED IN STEEP LEFT TURN DRG GO-AROUND AFTER BALKED LANDING. INSTRUCTOR TOOK CONTROLS AND INITIATED GO-AROUND AFTER STUDENT LNDD IN IMPROPER ATTITUDE. ENGINES NUMBER 1 & 2 FAILED TO RESPOND WHEN THROTTLES ADVANCED. BOTH ENGINES DECELERATED. AIRSPEED DECREASED DURING GO-AROUND. FLAPS WERE RETRACTED CAUSING REDUCTION IN HYD PRESSURE. INSTRUCTOR UNABLE TO MAINTAIN VMC SPEED, LOST CONTROL. ACFT DESTROYED BY POSTCRASH FIRE. AIRFIELD PERIMETER FENCE DMGD. TEARDOWN AND TESTING REVEALED HEAVY ACCUMULATION OF OIL/TAR RESIDUES ON BLEED VALVES AND THROUGHOUT ENGINES NUMBER 1 & 2 COMPRESSORS, LIMITING ABILITY OF ENGINES TO RESPOND TO THROTTLE MOVEMENT. HISTORY OF RECENT ENGINE AND PROPELLER OIL LEAKS. NO RECORD OF ENGINE WASHES AFTER LEAKS, ALTHOUGH REQUIRED BY MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, SEE SUMMARY REPORT NTSB/AAR-88/03/SUM. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_DCA87MA024.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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