NTSB MIA91FA017 — 1990-10-30 · MARATHON, Florida, United States

N3220J has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BEECH A36, built 1995), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N3220J Cessna 150G Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED, WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A FORCED LANDING FOLLOWING A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE CENTER ROCKER BOSS ON THE #3 CYLINDER WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Factual narrative

WHILE ON A X-WIND AFTER A TOUGH-&-GO LNDG, A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENG POWER OCCURRED. THE INSTRUCTOR (CFI) TOOK CTL & MNVRD THE ACFT TO LAND. THE ACFT WAS NOT ALIGNED WITH THE RWY, SO THE CFI ELECTED TO LAND IN A GRASS AREA. HE STATED THAT WHILE DSCNDG THRU ABOUT 100' AGL, 'THE YOKE FELL BACKWARD' INTO HIS LAP. HE BELIEVED THAT THE ELEVATOR CABLE HAD FAILED, WHICH ALLOWED THE ACFT TO CRASH. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, A STEEP TURN WAS MADE IN AN ATMT TO ALIGN THE ACFT FOR LANDING; THEN THE ACFT LEVELED OFF AT ABOUT 30' AGL & WAS AT A SLOW SPEED. THE ACFT THEN ENTERED A STEEP DSCNT & CRASHED. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL PROBLEM WAS FOUND WITH THE FLT CTL SYS. A METALLURGICAL EXAM SHOWED THAT THE ELEVATOR UP CABLE HAD FAILED UNDER A TENSILE LOAD WHILE BEING BENT AROUND AN EDGE OR CORNER. AN EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT THE CENTER ROCKER BOSS ON THE #3 CYLINDER HAD FAILED IN FATIGUE. THE FATIGUE HAD ORIGINATED WHERE NUMBERS WERE EMBOSSED INTO THE BOSS DRG MANUFACTURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_MIA91FA017.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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