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NYC89FA013

1988-10-16 · WALLINGFORD, Connecticut, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MMK

N555GC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (MOONEY M20F, built 1967), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE ACFT LOST POWER AND CRASHED IN A TRACTOR TRAILER PARKING LOT, DESTROYING THE HELICOPTER AND CAUSING SERIOUS INJURIES TO THE PILOT AND ONE PASSENGER. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED AN IMPROPER FUEL FLOW SWITCH, WHICH HAD NO CHECK VALVE PROTECTION INSTALLED ON SYSTEM NO 1. THE FAA CERTIFICATION BRANCH (ASW-170) STATED THAT IF THE WRONG FUEL FLOW SWITCH IS USED AND THE BOOST PUMP CIRCUIT BREAKERS ARE PULLED, A FLAMEOUT IS LIKELY. THE PILOT SAID HE PULLED THE MASTER CAUTION BREAKER AND MAY HAVE PULLED THE BOOST PUMP BREAKERS 'PREPARING FOR LANDING'. THE FUEL BOOST PUMP CIRCUIT BREAKERS WERE PULLED AND THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 27 GAL OF FUEL REMAINING, WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_NYC89FA013.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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