NYC88LA176

1988-07-04 · LINDEN, New Jersey, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LDJ

Aircraft involved

N6655L Lake LA-4 None

Probable cause & findings

HARD LANDING DUE TO IMPROPER LEVEL OFF OF THE STUDENT AND THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION. THE LEFT WING PARTIALLY FAILED BECAUSE OF OVERLOAD AND THE AIRCRAFT MADE A FORCED LANDING IN A SWAMP.

Factual narrative

ON FINAL TAKEOFF OF A FULL STOP LANDING PRACTICE, THE STUDENT PILOT WAS AT THE CONTROLS BUT WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY MAINTAINING DIRECTIONAL CONTROL OF THE ACFT AS IT CLIMBED VERY SLOWLY. THE CFI TOOK OVER APPLYING LARGE AMOUNTS OF LEFT AILERON TO MAINTAIN A WINGS LEVEL ATTITUDE. AT THIS POINT, THE STUDENT OBSERVED CREASES IN THE UPPER SKIN OF THE LEFT WING. THE ACFT WAS ABLE TO CLEAR POWER LINES, BUT DUE TO THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN, THE CFI ELECTED TO LAND STRAIGHT AHEAD IN MARSHLAND. THE ACFT BOUNCED ON TOUCHDOWN AND DECELERATED RAPIDLY AS THE ACFT SPUN AROUND. METALLURGICAL INSPECTION REVEALED THE LEFT WING CONTAINED A COMPRESSION BUCKLE WITH UPWARD BENDING OF THE WING. THE INTERNAL STRUCTURAL MEMBERS OF THE WING SHOWED SIGNS OF OVERLOAD/OVERSTRESS FAILURES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_NYC88LA176.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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