NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN92IA074
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
OPEN AIR GROUND CIRCUIT BREAKERS THAT ALLOWED THE PROPELLERS TO OVERSPEED. A FACTOR WAS: CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE.
Factual narrative
THE CAPTAIN WAS FLYING THE AIRPLANE WITH HIS RIGHT HAND RESTING ON THE POWER CONTROLS. AS THE AIRPLANE TURNED ONTO FINAL APPROACH, IT ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE OF SUFFICIENT INTENSITY THAT THE CAPTAIN'S FEET CAME OFF THE RUDDER PEDALS. HE FELT A 'CLICK' IN HIS HAND AND 'THERE WAS AN INSTANTANEOUS PROPELLER OVERSPEED.' THE ENGINE WAS EVENTUALLY SECURED BY CLOSING THE FUEL SHUTOFF VALVE AND AN UNEVENTFUL NO FLAP LANDING WAS MADE. POST INCIDENT EXAMINATION DISCLOSED BOTH AIR GROUND CIRCUIT BREAKERS WERE OPEN. THE LEFT ENGINE WAS FOUND TO BE FUNCTIONALLY DESTROYED. A READOUT OF THE DIGITAL FLIGHT DATA RECORDER DISCLOSED THE MAXIMUM LEFT AND RIGHT PROPELLER RPM VALUES ATTAINED WERE 150.49% AND 120.4%, RESPECTIVELY. VERTICAL ACCELERATION VALUES RANGED FROM .647 TO 1.26 G'S, AND LONGITUDINAL ACCELERATION VALUES RANGED FROM .037 TO .096 G'S. THE RIGHT ENGINE TORQUE PEAKED AT 37%, WHILE THE LEFT ENGINE TORQUE REMAINED AT 0%. RIGHT ENGINE FUEL FLOW WAS 16% TO 19% LOWER THAN LEFT ENGINE FUEL FLOW, AND PROPELLER IMBALANCE VALUES FOR THE LEFT ENGINE WAS APPROXIMATELY 50% HIGHER THAN THOSE RECORDED FOR THE RIGHT ENGINE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1992_DEN92IA074.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗