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NYC92LA122

1992-06-20 · LEBANON, Pennsylvania, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 08N

N21144 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (EMBRAER EMB-145XR, built 2003), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL AND UNCONTROLLED DESCENT TO THE GROUND. FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPEREINCE IN THE TYPE OF AIRPLANE AND THE PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

Factual narrative

WORK WAS ACCOMPLISHED ON THE ENGINE OF THE HOMEBUILT AIRPLANE PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT AFTER A FEW MINUTES, IN A SHALLOW DESCENT AND FLYING VERY SLOW, 'POSSIBLY NEAR STALL SPEED.' WITNESSES REPORTED THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING BUT DID NOT APPEAR TO BE DEVELOPING FULL POWER. AS THE AIRPLANE CROSSED THE AIRPORT BOUNDARY, WITNESSES REPORTED IT APPEARED TO PULL UP, STALL, AND DESCEND TO THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE GROUND ON THE RIGHT WING, CARTWHEELED, AND LANDED UPSIDE DOWN. THE PILOT CRAWLED OUT OF THE BURNING WRECKAGE. DUE TO IMPACT AND POST CRASH FIRE, THE CAUSE OF THE PARTIAL POWER LOSS WAS NOT DETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_NYC92LA122.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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