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NYC89FA221

1989-09-30 · BEAVER FALLS, Pennsylvania, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BVI

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE LEFT WING, REAR UPPER STRUT ATTACHMENT. THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY NOT INSTALLING THE RETAINING BOLT AND NUT.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND SPENT SEVERAL YEARS REBUILDING THE AIRPLANE AT HIS OWN LEISURE. THE LOGBOOKS INDICATED THE LAST ANNUAL WAS COMPLETED IN 1986. IT WAS NOT KNOWN IF THE AIRPLANE HAD FLOWN SINCE THAT ANNUAL PRIOR TO THIS FLIGHT. FRIENDS STATED THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND WAS ONLY GOING TO TAXI THE AIRPLANE AND PERFORM SOME RUN-UP TESTS. HOWEVER, THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND ELECTED TO FLY THE AIRPLANE. WHILE ON DOWNWIND, THE LEFT WING APPEARED TO FOLD UP, THE AIRPLANE ROLLED LEFT, NOSED OVER AND DESCENDED RAPIDLY BEHIND TREES. EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT THE RETAINING BOLT AND NUT FOR THE LEFT WING REAR UPPER STRUT ATTACHMENT WAS NOT INSTALLED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_NYC89FA221.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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