NTSB NYC84FA180 — 1984-05-22 · TAUNTON, Massachusetts, United States

N812Z has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 525C, built 2011), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N812Z Beech D-45 Fatal

Factual narrative

N812Z CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA ABOUT ONE MILE SOUTHEAST OF THE TAUNTON MUNICIPAL AIRPORT. WITNESSES IN THE AREA OBSERVED THE ACFT PRIOR TO THE CRASH. ONE WITNESS SAW WHAT APPEARED TO BE YELLOW SMOKE COMING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE ACFT. SOME OF THE WITNESSES HEARD THE ACFT ENG STOP RUNNING AND THEN START ONE OR MORE TIMES PRIOR TO THE ACFT DESCENDING RAPIDLY AND SPINNING BEFORE THE SOUND OF THE IMPACT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE PLT WAS INBOUND TO THE AIRPORT FOR THE PURPOSE OF TAKING HIS COMMERCIAL CHECK RIDE. A POSTMORTEM EXAMINATION OF THE PLT DID NOT REVEAL ANY PRE-EXISTING DISEASE THAT WOULD HAVE AFFECTED THE PLT'S PERFORMANCE. EXAMINATION OF THE ACFT REVEALED THAT THE FUEL CONTROL INLET LINE 'B' NUT WAS LOOSE ABOUT 1.5 TURNS FROM FINGER TIGHT. A TEST ON A SIMILIAR UNIT USING SAME SIZE FITTINGS SHOWED A LEAKAGE RATE OF 67 G/HR AT INLET PRESSURE OF 21 PSIG. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_NYC84FA180.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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