NTSB CAROL · Event
Event NYC95LA024
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the inadequate preflight by the pilot, resulting in engine failure due to water ingestion.
Factual narrative
On November 13, 1994, at 1325 eastern daylight time, an Aircoupe A-2, N888JL, owned by David E. Miller and piloted by Anne Miller, was substantially damaged during a forced landing after takeoff from a private airstrip (VA91), in Goode, Virginia. The pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the flight operating under 14 CFR Part 91. In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated that she and her husband flew N888JL that morning from VA91, to the Forest Airport (W90), 5 miles away, and then returned to VA91. She further stated: "...I preflighted the plane again at approximately 1315 in preparation to fly...I started my takeoff roll at approximately 1330. Everything was normal, lifted off and climbed about 150 feet when the engine totally lost power all at once, no sputtering. I was over the end of the runway. I turned toward a small field left of the runway...I was too high to land in the field...and was trying to make the next field when I hit...the trees on the edge of the field...The plane was refueled on November 12 at W90..." According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector's report, he stated: "...Indications were that the propeller was not rotating on impact. Witnesses and owner stated that water had been found in fuel system since the aircraft was purchased two months prior. Owner and mechanic felt that they had finally removed all water from system...The fuel pump and carburetor were removed on site ...Water, water traces and rust were found in the fuel pump and carburetor..." END OF REPORT - NOTHING FOLLOWS THE PILOT AND HER HUSBAND FLEW THE AIRPLANE THE MORNING OF THE ACCIDENT FROM ONE AIRPORT TO ANOTHER. THE PILOT PREFLIGHTED THE AIRPLANE AGAIN THAT AFTERNOON AND DEPARTED ON A SOLO FLIGHT. DURING THE CLIMB OUT, ABOUT 150 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, THE ENGINE TOTALLY LOST POWER, WITHOUT ANY PRELIMINARY SPUTTERING OR WARNING. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED A FORCED LANDING TO A FIELD AND STRUCK TREES DURING THE DESCENT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT WATER HAD BEEN FOUND IN THE FUEL SYSTEM DURING THE 2 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED WATER AND RUST IN THE FUEL PUMP AND CARBURETOR. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1994_NYC95LA024.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (engine failure). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Other - NACA Research Memorandum
Ditching Tests with a 1/12-Scale Model of the Army A-26 Airplane in Langley Tank No. 2 and on an Outdoor Catapult
Tests were conducted in calm water in Langley tank no. 2 and in calm and rough water at an outdoor catapult in order to determine the best way to make a forced landing of an Army A-26 airplane and to …
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Multi-level Adaptation for Automatic Landing with Engine Failure under Turbulent Weather
This paper addresses efficient feasibility evaluation of possible emergency landing sites, online navigation, and path following for automatic landing under engine-out failure subject to turbulent wea…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Simulation of Liquid Rocket Engine Failure Propagation Using Self-Evolving Scenarios
Traditional probabilistic risk assessment approaches often require failure scenarios to be explicitly defined through event sequences that are then quantified as part of the integrated analysis.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Rocket engine failure detection using system identification techiques
The theoretical foundation and application of two univariate failure detection algorithms to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) test firing data is presented.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Rocket engine failure detection using system identification techniques
The theoretical foundation and application of two univariate failure detection algorithms to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) test firing data is presented.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
A simulator investigation of engine failure compensation for powered-lift STOL aircraft
A piloted simulator investigation of various engine failure compensation concepts for powered-lift STOL aircraft was carried out at the Ames Research Center.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗