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NYC91FA239

1991-09-18 · BELVEDERE CTR, Vermont, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE FIRST OFFICER (CO-PILOT) TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT AFTER BECOMING SPATIALLY DISORIENTED, AND HIS EXCEEDING THE DESIGN STRESS LIMITS OF THE AIRCRAFT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE LACK OF TWO PILOTS IN THE COCKPIT, DARKNESS, AND INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC) AT FLIGHT ALTITUDE.

Factual narrative

THE AIRPLANE WAS CRUISING IN NIGHT INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WHEN IT ENTERED A LEFT TURN AND EXCEEDED THE DESIGN AIRFRAME LIMITS. THE AIRPLANE BROKE UP IN THE DESCENT DUE TO AERODYNAMIC FORCES AND WAS DESTROYED.. THE OUTBOARD WING PANELS HAD FAILED DOWNWARD AND CENTER WING SECTION SEPARATED FROM THE FUSELAGE. THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZER AND ELEVATORS HAD FAILED DOWN AND AFT. THE CAPTAIN WAS FOUND OUT OF THE COCKPIT WITH NO EVIDENCE OF HIM BEING IN THE SEAT AT IMPACT A HUMAN FACTORS STUDY FOUND THE AIRCRAFT'S LAST MINUTE OF FLIGHT MATCHED A PROFILE OF A PILOT EXPERIENCING SPATIAL DISORIENTATION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC91FA239.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (spatial disorientation, imc, human factors). All research papers