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FTW91LA120

1991-07-11 · CRESSON, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 50F

N289RL has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BELL 206B), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FOR UNKNOWN REASONS AND THE FAILURE OF THE CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR/PILOT-IN-COMMAND TO FEATHER THE PROPELLER.

Factual narrative

BOTH PILOTS WERE MULTIENGINE RATED AND CFI'S. THE SECOND PILOT WAS RECEIVING INSTRUCTION IN PREPARATION FOR HIS MULTIENGINE INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATE. THEY REPORTED THAT DURING TAKEOFF THE LEFT ENGINE WOULD NOT DEVELOPE FULL POWER, AND THAT DURING THE DOWNWIND LEG OF THE CLOSED TRAFFIC PATTERN THE AIRPLANE WOULD NOT SUSTAIN FLIGHT. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT SENSED THE ENGINE HAD LOST POWER BUT HE DID NOT FEATHER THE PROPELLER; HE RELIED ON THE MANIFOLD GAUGE TO INDICATE ENGINE CONDITION. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT EXECUTED A FORCED LANDING AND ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO THE DEPARTURE RUNWAY. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE TERRAIN IN A 45 DEGREE LEFT BANK, 15 DEGREES NOSE LOW, SHORT OF INTENDED LANDING POINT WITHOUT THE PILOT ATTEMPTING TO FLARE. THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED BY A POST CRASH FIRE. NO CAUSE FOR THE POWER LOSS TO THE LEFT ENGINE WAS FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_FTW91LA120.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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