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Atlas / NTSB / MIA83FA074

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event MIA83FA074

1983-02-13 WINTER HAVEN, Florida, United States Airport · GIF Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE ACFT CRASHED INTO A DITCH OFF THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RWY AND BURST INTO FLAMES DURING TAKEOFF. WITNESSES SAID THE ACFT DID NOT SOUND LIKE IT WAS DEVELOPING NORMAL RPM FOR TAKEOFF. ONE MECHANIC SAID THE ENGINES SOUNDED LIKE THEY WERE STILL IN GROUND IDLE POSITION. THE SURVIVING PASSENGER SAID THEY DIDN'T GET ENOUGH SPEED TO TAKEOFF BUT HE DID NOT SUSPECT ANY ENGINE PROBLEMS. ANOTHER GROUND WITNESS SAID IT SOUNDED LIKE THE PROPELLERS WERE IN VERY HIGH OR CRUISE PITCH. AFTER THE ACCIDENT BOTH PROPELLERS WERE AT OR NEAR THE FEATHER POSITION. TOXICOLOGY STUDIES ON THE PILOT SHOWED HIS BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL WAS 0.22%. HE ALSO HAD CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_MIA83FA074.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.