NTSB NYC89LA155 — 1989-07-02 · GASPORT, New York, United States

N5266T has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AEROSTAR INTERNATIONAL INC S53A, built 2000), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N5266T Piper PA-28-140 Minor

Probable cause & findings

FUEL CONTAMINATION (WATER) AND AN INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT SAID THAT HE PERFORMED A PREFLIGHT AND RUNUP BEFORE TAKEOFF. DURING CLIMB OUT AT ABOUT 450 FEET, THE ENGINE QUIT RUNNING AND THE AIRCRAFT FLEW INTO TREES. AN INSPECTION REVEALED THAT THE CARBURETOR AND GASCOLATOR WERE MORE THAN HALF FULL OF WATER. THE FUEL PUMPS AND FILTERS AT THE AIRPORT WERE FOUND TO BE SATISFACTORY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_NYC89LA155.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 (fuel contamination). All research papers

NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Combined Contamination and Space Environmental Effects on Solar Cells and Thermal Control Surfaces

For spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO), contamination can occur from thruster fuel, sputter contamination products and from products of silicone degradation.