NTSB CAROL · Event
Event FTW88IA109
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
A DOUBLE ENGINE FLAMEOUT DUE TO WATER INGESTION WHICH OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF AN INFLIGHT ENCOUNTER WITH AN AREA OF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL. A CONTRIBUTING CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT WAS THE INADEQUATE DESIGN OF THE ENGINES AND THE FAA WATER INGESTION CERTIFICATION STANDARDS WHICH DID NOT REFLECT THE WATERFALL RATES THAT CAN BE EXPECTED IN MODERATE OR HIGHER INTENSITY THUNDERSTORMS.
Factual narrative
DRG DSCNT FM FL 350 FOR IFR ARR TO NEW ORLEANS, FLT CREW NOTED GREEN & YELLOW RTRNS ON WX RADAR WITH SOME ISOLATED RED CELLS, LEFT & RGT OF INTENDED FLT PATH. BFR ENTERING CLOUDS AT 30,000', CAPT SLCTD CONTINUOUS ENG IGNITION & ACTIVATED ENG ANTI-ICE SYS. CREW SLCTD ROUTE BET 2 CELLS, DISPLAYED AS RED ON WX RADAR. HVY RAIN, HAIL & TURBC WERE ENCTRD. AT ABT16,500', BOTH ENGS FLAMED OUT. APU WAS STARTED & AC ELEC PWR WAS RESTORED WHILE DSCNDG THRU ABT 10,600'. ATMTS TO WIND- MILL RESTART WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. BOTH ENGS LIT-OFF BY USING STARTERS, BUT NEITHER WOULD ACCELERATE TO IDLE; ADVNG THRUST LEVERS INCREASED EGT BYD LIMITS. ENGS WERE SHUT DOWN TO AVOID CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. EMERG LNDG WAS MADE ON LEVEE W/O FURTHER DMG TO ACFT. INV REVEALED ACFT ENCTRD LVL 4 TSTM, BUT ENGS FLAMED OUT, THOUGH THEY HAD MET FAA SPECS FOR WATER INGESTION. ACFT HAD MINOR HAIL DMG; #2 ENG WAS DMGD FM OVERTEMP. AFTER INCIDENT, OMB 88-5 & AD 6-14-88 ISSUED TO RQR MINRPM OF 45% & TO RESTR USE OF AUTOTHRUST IN MOD/HVY PRECIP; ENG MOD WAS PROVIDED FOR INCREASED CPTY OF WTR INGESTION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1988_FTW88IA109.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.
Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (thunderstorm). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (IJAAA)
The Impact of Thunderstorms on Take-off Data in South Africa
Aviation and meteorology are entwined disciplines, as aviation occurs in the atmosphere. Prevailing weather conditions at take-off are of utmost importance to aviation.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
Thunderstorm hazards flight research: Storm hazards 1980 overview
A highly instrumented NASA F-106B aircraft, modified for the storm hazards mission and protected against direct lightning strikes, was used in conjunction with various ground based radar and lightning…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Proceedings
Operational evaluation of thunderstorm penetration test flights during project Storm Hazards '80
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is conducting a research project called Storm Hazards '80 in order to study the prediction, detectability and avoidance of the hazards of severe storm…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Nowcasting Thunderstorm Anvil Clouds Over KSC/CCAFS
Electrified thunderstorm anvil clouds extend the threat of natural and triggered lightning to space launch and landing operations far beyond the immediate vicinity of thunderstorm cells.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
An Examination of Aviation Accidents Associated with Turbulence, Wind Shear and Thunderstorm
The focal point of the study reported here was the definition and examination of turbulence, wind shear and thunderstorm in relation to aviation accidents.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Observations of severe turbulence near thunderstorm tops
Data derived from the flight tapes of two airliners that experienced severe turbulence near thunderstorm tops are used to produce quantitative descriptions of the turbulence and its environment.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗