NTSB CAROL · Event
Event NYC85FA131
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE FLT HAD BEEN ON A LOCAL SIGHTSEEING TOUR OVER THE NIAGARA FALLS. THE PLT THEN STATED THAT HE WAS GOING TO GIVE HIS PAX A DEMONSTRATION OF HOW FAST THE ACFT APPEARS TO BE TRAVELING WHEN IT IS CLOSE TO THE WATER. THE PLT THEN BEGAN A LEFT DESCENDING TURN OVER THE NIAGARA RIVER. THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT PAX STATED THAT HE TURNED IN HIS SEAT TO SPEAK TO HIS WIFE & THE NEXT THING HE KNEW, HE WAS IN THE WATER. WITNESSES IN THE AREA OBSERVED THE ACFT IN A LEFT DESCENDING TURN OVER THE RIVER WHICH CONTINUED UNTIL THE LEFT WING STRUCK THE WATER & THE ACFT CARTWHEELED DISINTEGRATING ON IMPACT. THE SURVIVING PAX & WITNESSES STATED THE ENG SOUNDED NORMAL UNTIL IMPACT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1985_NYC85FA131.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.