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NYC92LA032

1991-11-16 · POESTENSKILL, New York, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 5B7

N50877 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AIR TRACTOR INC AT-502B, built 1997), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER USE OF CARBURATOR HEAT, RESULTING IN CARBURATOR ICE AND A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND SUBSEQUENT FORCED LANDING ON UNSUITABLE TERRAIN.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT SAID THE ENGINE LOST POWER IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN. HE MADE A FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD AND THE AIRPLANE NOSED OVER. THE FAA INSPECTOR WAS ABLE TO START AND RUN THE ENGINE AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WAS 46 DEGREES F AND THE DEW POINT WAS 29 DEGREES F. ACCORDING TO THE FAA CHART, THIS TEMPERATURE/DEW POINT COMBINATION MEETS THE CONDITIONS FAVORING FORMATION OF CARBURATOR ICING. THE STUDENT PILOT HAD A TOTAL FLIGHT TIME OF 128 HOURS WITH 11 HOURS IN THIS MAKE AND MODEL AIRPLANE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC92LA032.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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