Skip to content

NYC92FA139

1992-08-01 · HONESDALE, Pennsylvania, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N30

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A LOSS OF CONTROL IN FLIGHT DUE TO PILOT INCAPACITATION AS A RESULT OF A HEART ATTACK.

Factual narrative

THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO ENTER THE TRAFFIC PATTERN ON AN UPWIND LEG, THEN TURN LEFT ON THE CROSSWIND LEG. HOWEVER, IT REMAINED IN THE TURN WHICH INCREASED IN BANK, AND IT STARTED TO DESCEND. NO CHANGE IN POWER WAS HEARD AS THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED TO TURN AND DESCEND. IT STRUCK THE GROUND IN A LEFT WING LOW ATTITUDE AFTER COMPLETING OVER 180 DEG OF TURN. THE PILOT WAS BEING TREATED FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. IN ADDITION, THE AUTOPSY REVEALED EXTENSIVE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS HEART ATTACKS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_NYC92FA139.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers