Skip to content

NYC88LA085

1988-02-12 · PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PHL

N339MA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PIPER PA 46-350P, built 2016), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE MITSUBISHI MU-2B-35 LANDED AND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE LEFT WING MIDWAY BETWEEN THE ENGINE AND TIP TANK AND OUTBOARD TO THE TIP TANK. FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE WING SHOWED A BROKEN LOWER FRONT WING SPAR AND A BENT REAR LOWER WING SPAR. THE PILOT SAID HE ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE WHILE CRUISING AT 250 KTS. HE SAID HE SLOWED TO 170 KTS AND THEN RESUMED SPEED TO 250 KTS. AFTER MITSUBISHI EXAMINED THE WING, THEY SAID THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY EITHER A HARD LANDING OR LANDING WITH EXCESS FUEL IN THE TIP TANK. THEY ALSO SAID IT WAS LIKELY THAT THE AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN FLOWN SEVERAL TIMES WITH THE WING DAMAGE PRESENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_NYC88LA085.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). All research papers