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MIA92LA144

1992-06-30 · HOMESTEAD, Florida, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport X51

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADVERTENT STALL BY THE PILOT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT FOLLOWING LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LOSS OF POWER DUE TO A STICKING EXHAUST VALVE, AND FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ASSURE ALL IGNITION LEADS WERE CONNECTED AND TIGHTENED BEFORE THE FLIGHT.

Factual narrative

BEFORE THE ACCIDENT FLT, THE PLT WAS SEEN WORKING ON THE ENG ASSY. THE FLT DEPARTED & SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, WITNESSES HEARD THE ENG RUNNING ROUGH, & OBSERVED THE PLT BANK THE ACFT TO RETURN TO THE ARPT. THE ACFT STALLED & IMPACTED THE GROUND NOSE LOW. ACCORDING TO A DETECTIVE WHO EXAMINED THE ACFT AT THE ACCIDENT SITE, THERE WAS NO ODOR OF FUEL. EXAMINATION OF THE FUEL TANK, GASCOLATOR (BOTH IMPACT DAMAGED) & CARBURETOR REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF FUEL. THE CARBURETOR WAS FOUND DISCONNECTED FROM THE FLEXIBLE HOSE ATTACHED TO THE INTAKE MANIFOLD. THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS IN THE ON POSITION. THE PROPELLER WAS ROTATED & 3 OF THE 4 CYLINDERS PRODUCED COMPRESSION. THE LEFT REAR CYLINDER DID NOT DUE TO A STICKING EXHAUST VALVE. ADDITIONALLY, THE RT FWD TOP IGNITION LEAD WAS DISCONNECTED. THE THREADS ON THE LEAD & PLUG WERE NOT DAMAGED. ALSO, SEVERAL OF THE IGNITION LEADS WERE FINGER TIGHT ON THEIR RESPECTIVE SPARK PLUGS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_MIA92LA144.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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