NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA89FA118
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
MALFUNCTION OF BOTH MAGNETOS DUE TO DETERIORATION OF THE COILS, WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: AN INADEQUATE AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE (NO CALENDAR TIME LIMITS), AND THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN (ROUGH/UNEVEN) IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA.
Factual narrative
ABOUT 9 MIN AFTER TAKEOFF, AS THE PLTS WERE MNVRG ON A LOCAL TRAINING FLT, THE ENG LOST POWER. AN EMERG LNDG WAS MADE IN THE ONLY AVAILABLE PLACE, A CLEAR CUT AREA OF AN EVERGREEN FOREST. DURING THE LNDG, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH ROUGH TERRAIN & A STUMP. FUNCTIONAL TESTS REVEALED THAT BOTH MAGNETOS WOULD PRODUCE A SPARK AT AMBIENT TEMP, BUT THEY WOULD NOT OPERATE WHEN HEATED TO NORMAL OPERATING TEMP. BEFORE THIS FLT, THE 1957 MODEL ACFT HAD BEEN IN STORAGE FOR AN EXTDD PERIOD OF TIME. RECORDS SHOWED THAT AN ANNUAL INSPN HAD BEEN PERFORMED ON 4/3/87 AT 1294.3 HRS OF SVC. THE NEXT ANNUAL INSPN WAS JUST BEFORE THE ACDNT FLT AT 1294.8 HRS. THE COILS IN THE BENDIX S4LN-20 SERIES MAGNETOS INSTALLED IN THE ACFT WERE REQUIRED TO BE REPLACED BEFORE 2000 HRS TIME-IN-SVC IAW AD 73-07-04 (ISSUED IN 1973) & BENDIX SVC BUL #560A. THE AD HAD NOT BEEN COMPLIED WITH. NEITHER THE AD NOR THE SVC BUL SPECIFIED A CALENDAR TIME LIMIT FOR MANDATORY REPLACEMENT OF THE MAGNETO COILS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_SEA89FA118.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 (stall). 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
Experimental flight test vibration measurements and nondestructive inspection on a USCG HC-130H aircraft
This paper presents results of experimental flight test vibration measurements and structural inspections performed by the Federal Aviation Administration's Airworthiness Assurance NDI Validation Cent…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2016 · Journal article (IJAAA)
The Military Learner: The Acceptance of New Training Technology for C-130 Aircrews
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- 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 2024 · arXiv preprint
High-fidelity study of three-dimensional turbulent transonic buffet on wide-span infinite wings
Turbulent transonic buffet is an aerodynamic instability causing periodic oscillations of lift/drag in aerospace applications.
- 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.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗