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Atlas / NTSB / FTW83FQA01

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW83FQA01

1982-10-25 MORIARTY, New Mexico, United States Airport · 0E0 Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT TOOKOFF TO DELEIVER THE AIRCRAFT TO A NEW OWNER. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE AIRCRAFT TURNED AS IF TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT AND SUDDENLY NOSED DOWN AND DOVE AT A 30 TO 45 DEGREE ANGLE. BEFORE LEVELING OFF, IT MUSHED INTO THE GROUND HARD ENOUGH TO DRIVE LANDING GEAR STRUTS THROUGH THE WINGS. NO ENGINE SOUNDS WERE HEARD AS AIRCRAFT DESCENDED. AN EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE SPARK PLUGS WERE EXTREMELY SOOTED. NO OTHER PREIMPACT ENGINE PROBLEMS WERE FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_FTW83FQA01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.