NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR23LA324
Registry · N989PA
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA20-C1
Year of manufacture
2002 · 21 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR IO-240 SER (128 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20020402
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ADCDD9
Registrant of record
N989PA LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The flight pilots improper fuel management, which resulted a total loss of engine power, and impact with terrain during an off-airport landing. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s failure to follow the airplane checklist.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor reported that while conducting a simulated engine failure, the student terminated the maneuver, with the fuel mixture leaned, by advancing the throttle. The engine did not respond with full power, and the flight instructor then “advanced” the mixture. The engine subsequently lost total power. The flight instructor attempted but could not restart the engine. The flight instructor then selected an off-airport landing site, and during the landing roll, the airplane impacted a dirt “berm” which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane by the flight instructor revealed the mixture was not in the full rich position and the fuel pump switch was not in the on position, which was contrary to the checklist for engine failure after takeoff procedures. According to the owner, who conducted a postaccident engine test run, the engine exhibited no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action selection-Instructor/check pilot
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Instructor/check pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2023_WPR23LA324.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.
- 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.
- Semantic Scholar 2019 · Article (AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum)
Impact of Engine Failure Constraints on the Initial Sizing of Hybrid-Electric GA Aircraft
Potential advantages of hybrid-electric aircraft are fuel savings, lower emissions, and reduced noise. Since these aircraft generally apply multiple power sources, they can also be designed to sustain…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗