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NYC90DNA01

1989-10-05 · NORTH ANDOVER, Massachusetts, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LWM

N671RS has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-4, built 1996), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRCRAFT CONTROL DURING THE RESULTANT FORCED LANDING.

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER THE HOMEBUILT AIRPLANE DEPARTED, THE PILOT TOLD THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER THAT THE ENGINE HAD QUIT AND HE WAS RETURNING TO THE AIRPORT TO LAND. A GROUND WITNESS OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE AS IT APPROACHED THE RUNWAY. HE STATED THE AIRPLANE ROLLED TO THE LEFT, PITCHED NOSE DOWN AND DESCENDED INTO THE TERRAIN NEAR THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE PILOT DID NOT REMOVE A FOAM PLUG FROM THE CARBURETOR INLET DUCT BEFORE FLIGHT. SUBSEQUENTLY, THIS RESULTED IN A RESTRICTION OF AIRFLOW TO THE CARBURETOR AND LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_NYC90DNA01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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