NTSB CAROL · Event
Event NYC90LA035
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
PRECAUTIONARY LANDING IN UNSUITABLE TERRAIN FOLLOWING A PARTIAL POWER LOSS DUE TO A FAILED EXHAUST VALVE.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT OF BEECH 23 WAS CRUISING AT 1000 FEET A.G.L. WHEN HE HEARD A TAPPING NOISE FROM THE ENGINE AND EXPERIENCED A PARTIAL POWER LOSS. HE ELECTED TO MAKE A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING IN A LAND FILL. THE NOSE AND RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED IN THE SOFT TERRAIN. POST CRASH EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE SHOWED A FAILED 7/16TH INCH EXHAUST VALVE IN THE #3 CYLINDER. AVAILABLE RECORDS INDICATED THE ENGINE HAD 2010 HOURS AND THE MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDS OVERHAUL AT 1200 HOURS WITH THE 7/16TH INCH EXHAUST VALVE. NO RECORDS WERE AVAILABLE TO INDICATE IF THE ENGINE HAD BEEN OVERHAULED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_NYC90LA035.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.