NTSB CAROL · Event
Event NYC85FA109
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
ON APRIL 20, 1985, A PIPER PA-28-140, FLOWN BY A STUDENT PLT, CRASHED DURING AN ATTEMPTED GO-AROUND AT NORTH HAMPTON, NH, WHILE ON A PLEASURE FLT. THE WX WAS CLEAR, WINDS WERE LIGHT AND VARIABLE WITH UNLIMITED VISIBILITY. THE TOUGH RWY IS 2050 FT LONG AND 300 FT WIDE AND IS SURROUNDED BY TREES. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE PLT FLEW DOWN THE RWY AND AT ABOUT TE MIDFIELD POINT, THE NOSE PITCHED UP AND THE PLT EXECUTED A TURN TO THE LEFT. DURING THE TURN TO THE LEFT, THE BANK INCREASED TO 90 DEGREES, THE NOSE DROPPED BELOW THE HORIZON, AND THE ACFT CRASHED INTO AN OPEN FIELD,. NONE OF THE WITNESSES HEARD AN INCREASE IN ENG RPM DURING THE GO-AROUND. THE PLT HAD APRX 30 HRS TOTAL FLYING TIME AND HAD NOT FLOWN INTO THIS AIRFIELD BEFORE. THE PLT HAD RECEIVED ALL OF HIS INSTRUCTION AT ANOTHER AIRFIELD LOCATED 20 MILES AWAY. THIS WAS THE PLT'S FIRST KNOWN ATTEMPT TO LAND AT ANOTHER ARPT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1985_NYC85FA109.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research)
Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace)
Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…
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