NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA85FA103
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
AFTER LIFTOFF, THE PLT REQUESTED AN IMMEDIATE RETURN FOR LANDING STATING HE, 'SMELLED SMOKE/SOMETHING HOT'. DOWNWIND FOR THE PRECAUTIONARY LANDING WAS FLOWN AT 200 FT AGL, A SLOW AIRSPEED AND CLOSE TO THE RUNWAY WITH A CROSSWIND BLOWING THE ACFT TOWARD THE RUNWAY. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE APCH TURN STEEPEN TO AN APRX 60 DEG ANGLE OF BANK WITH MINOR PITCH AND YAW EXCURSIONS (LOCAL PLTS REPORT THAT WIND FROM THE SOUTHWEST PRODUCES TURBULENCE AND WINDSHEAR DUE TO SURROUNDING STRUCTURES) BEFORE THE NOSE PITCHED UP ABRUPTLY AND THE ACFT FELL OFF ON THE RIGHT WING, ROLLING TO A NEAR-VERTICAL ATTITUDE AND IMPACTING THE RUNWAY. THE ACFT WAS IMMEDIATELY ENGULFED IN FIRE. FLAPS WERE FOUND IN THE UP POSITION. NO EVIDENCE FOUND OF PRE-IMPACT SOURCE OF SMOKE/HEAT AS REPORTED BY THE PLT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1985_SEA85FA103.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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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 (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗