Atlas / NTSB / NYC73FNE03

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event NYC73FNE03

1972-07-14 STERLING, Massachusetts, United States Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

N3689S Cessna 172E Minor

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

CESSNA 172E · N3689S

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dusk

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EB

Operator type

Part 91 (general aviation)

Airport

STERLING

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED

Wind

220° / 6 kt

Temp

77° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000017250889

Total time

1,738 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial — instrument

Total hours

120

Age

36

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

.LDG RWY 16,ONLY NORTH HALF OF RWY LTD DUE CONSTR.

Investigator remarks

HIT TREES 70-80 FT AGL ABOUT 600 FT SHORT OF RWY

Cause factors

64/C/48 C
PILOT IN COMMAND MISJUDGED DISTANCE AND ALTITUDE Cause
88/L/22 L
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS POORLY PLANNED APPROACH
80/L/A3 L
AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES RUNWAY LIGHTING

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 2381. Source file NTSB_1972_3_2381.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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