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NYC84FFA03

1984-06-30 · GLENS FALLS, New York, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GFL

N3283E has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BALLOON WORKS FIREFLY 7-15, built 1998), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

A WITNESS NOTED THAT, ON TAKEOFF, THE ACFT APPEARED TO BE OUT OF CONTROL. IT ENTERED A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE, THEN 'FELL.' THE PLT RECOVERED BEFORE THE ACFT HIT THE GROUND, BUT THE AIRPLANE 'OSCILLATED IN ALTITUDE UNTIL OUT OF LINE OF SIGHT.' SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH ROCKY TERRAIN ON ARPT PROPERTY ABOUT 1/4 MI FROM THE END OF THE RWY AND WAS DESTROYED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE PLT HAD 2 CARDBOARD BOXES FULL OF HONEY JARS ABOARD. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT BOTH BOXES HAD BEEN LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SEAT NEXT TO THE PLT. ONE BOX WAS STILL FASTENED TO THE SEAT BY THE SEAT BELT, BUT THE OTHER BOX HAD BEEN THROWN FORWARD. THE INVESTIGATOR WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE LATTER BOX HAD SHIFTED PRIOR TO OR AFTER IMPACT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_NYC84FFA03.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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