NYC98LA052
1997-12-24 · LANCASTER, Pennsylvania, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport LNS
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
Passenger control interference which resulted in pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing.
Factual narrative
On December 24, 1997, about 0955 eastern standard time, a Beech 33A, N4133S, was substantially damaged during landing at the Lancaster Airport (LNS), Lancaster Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot received minor injures, and the pilot rated passenger was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed the Michael J. Smith Field Airport, Beaufort, North Carolina, about 0740. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. In an interview with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector, the pilot stated the flight was normal and routine until 2 feet above runway 08, when the stall warning horn activated. The pilot said she added a small amount of power, and lowered the nose slightly when the passenger in the right seat grabbed the controls and over powered her. The airplane then pitched up and stalled to the left. The left wing and nose impacted the ground, and the airplane slid onto runway 31. The pilot also stated that she did not experience any mechanical malfunctions prior to the time when the passenger grabbed the controls. The LNS Air Traffic Controller witnessed the accident. In a written statement he stated: "...Bonanza 4133S came in IFR, visual to runway 8, pilot made a normal approach. In landing flare, bounced and went vertical, then dropped off on the left wing, impacting runway 31 nose first, then fell back onto its belly..." In a telephone interview, a witness who observed the airplane on approach stated the plane was in a wings level attitude, when it suddenly pitched up, then went "wing over" to the left. On scene examination of the wreckage by an FAA Inspector did not disclosed any evidence of pre-impact abnormalities of the airframe or engine. During the landing flare the stall warning horn activated. The pilot added a small of power and lowered the nose slightly when the passenger in the right seat grabbed the controls and overpowered her. The airplane pitched up, went wing over to the left and impacted the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1997_NYC98LA052.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
- Kathryn's Report Aviation press ↗
- Aviation Herald Aviation press ↗
- AVweb Aviation press ↗
- Pilots of America Community ↗
- Reddit /r/flying Community ↗
- FlightAware Aviation press ↗
- AOPA accident database Aviation press ↗
- Google News News ↗
- DuckDuckGo News ↗
Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER) Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…