# NTSB investigations, NC: Emergency descent

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB ERA16LA059](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA16LA059.md): Pacific Aerospace 750XL · Raeford, NC · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Dec 3, 2015 · N216PK · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to obtain the proper touchdown point and speed during a precautionary landing with the engine shut down. Contributing to the accident was an erroneous engine torque indication, which led the pilot to shut the engine down, for reasons that…
- [NTSB ERA14FA313](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA14FA313.md): Cessna 182 · Littleton, NC · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Jun 27, 2014 · N182PE · Substantial damage
  > Maintenance personnel's application of sealant to the engine case halves during engine overhaul, contrary to manufacturer's instructions, which resulted in internal failure of the engine due to the loss of case bolt torque.
- [NTSB ERA12LA112](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA12LA112.md): Piper PA-38-112 · Merry Hill, NC · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Dec 16, 2011 · N9279T · Substantial damage
  > Operation of the airplane by a non-certificated pilot. Contributing to the accident was the non-certificated pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed while making a forced landing following a total loss of engine power at low altitude, which resulted in an…
- [NTSB ERA12CA095](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA12CA095.md): Bell 206L-3 · Wingate, NC · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Dec 1, 2011 · N216TV · Substantial damage
  > The certified flight instructor did not select an adequate landing site for the practice autorotation.
- [NTSB ERA09LA356](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA09LA356.md): Chris Mitchell Titan Tornado · Chadbourn, NC · Accident · 1 fatal · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 18, 2009 · N259CM · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control during initial climb following a loss of engine power. The reason for the power loss was not determined.
- [NTSB ATL05CA063](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL05CA063.md): Cessna 175 · Charlotte, NC · Accident · Minor injuries · Data collection · Final report · Mar 18, 2005 · N7148M · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to follow the checklist by his failure to verify the fuel selector was in the on position which resulted in fuel starvation and the loss of engine power.
- [NTSB ATL05FA048](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL05FA048.md): Cessna T210M · Shallotte, NC · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Feb 1, 2005 · C-GVVS · Destroyed
  > The partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
- [NTSB ATL05CA037](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL05CA037.md): Stanley, Davey L Pulsar III · Ocean Isle Beac, NC · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Jan 4, 2005 · N6133U · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's inadequate preflight planning of fuel required for the flight that resulted in fuel exhaustion and the subsequent loss of engine power.
- [NTSB ATL02LA124](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL02LA124.md): Cessna 152 · Greenville, NC · Accident · Minor injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 16, 2002 · N68437 · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's improper preflight planning and fuel management resulting in fuel exhaustion, and the total loss of engine power. The airplane nosed over during a forced landing to a cotton field.
- [NTSB ATL86FA266](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL86FA266.md): Piper TG8-J3C-65 · Apex, NC · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Sep 26, 1986 · N27047 · Destroyed
  > The plt was practicing takeoffs and landings in his newly acquired J3 at a private airstrip when the eng sputtered and then quit. The plt lost control of the acft and hit a 't' hanger prior to hitting the ground. The acft caught fire and was destroyed,…
- [NTSB ATL86LA083](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL86LA083.md): Piper PA-28-181 · Hickory, NC · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Mar 2, 1986 · N9153K · Destroyed
  > During cruise flt, plt felt eng vib and diverted to nearest aprt. During the descent the plt heard an explosion, saw the eng cowl pop up and oil covered the windscreen. Established in a glide the acft collided with trees then the ground. Exam of the eng…
- [NTSB ATL85FA050](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL85FA050.md): Beech N35 · Hagwood Store, NC · Accident · 2 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Dec 6, 1984 · N9476Y · Destroyed
  > The acft broke up in flight during an uncontrolled descent in instrument meteorological conditions under instrument flt rules (IFR). An IFR flt plan was filed. Shortly after takeoff the plt exhibited & reported problems with acft heading control &…
- [NTSB ATL82FA065](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL82FA065.md): Piper PA-28-180 · Taylorville, NC · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Mar 6, 1982 · N9783J · Substantial damage
  > The aircraft departed akron, NY at 1154 EST on a flight to charlotte,NC. Toward late afternoon, as the sun began to set, one of the passengers (the pilot's daughter), informed the pilot that the aircraft was getting low on fuel. He diverted toward an airport,…

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
WITH phase_names(main, name) AS (VALUES (100, 'Prior to flight'), (150, 'Standing'), (200, 'Pushback/towing'), (250, 'Taxi'), (300, 'Takeoff'), (350, 'Initial climb'), (400, 'Enroute'), (450, 'Maneuvering'), (500, 'Approach'), (550, 'Landing'), (600, 'Emergency descent'), (650, 'Uncontrolled descent'), (700, 'Post-impact'), (750, 'After landing'), (800, 'Other'), (990, 'Unknown')),
  crosswalk(code, main, name) AS (VALUES (500, 150, 'Standing'), (501, 150, 'Standing - pre-flight'), (502, 150, 'Standing - starting engine(s)'), (503, 150, 'Standing - engine(s) operating'), (504, 150, 'Standing - engine(s) not operating'), (505, 150, 'Standing - idling rotors'), (510, 250, 'Taxi'), (511, 200, 'Taxi - pushback/tow'), (512, 250, 'Taxi - to takeoff'), (513, 250, 'Taxi - from landing'), (514, 250, 'Taxi - aerial'), (520, 300, 'Takeoff'), (521, 300, 'Takeoff - roll/run'), (522, 350, 'Takeoff - initial climb'), (523, 300, 'Takeoff - aborted'), (530, 400, 'Climb'), (531, 400, 'Climb - to cruise'), (540, 400, 'Cruise'), (541, 400, 'Cruise - normal'), (542, 400, 'Maneuvering - holding (IFR)'), (550, 400, 'Descent'), (551, 400, 'Descent - normal'), (552, 600, 'Descent - emergency'), (553, 650, 'Descent - uncontrolled'), (560, 500, 'Approach'), (561, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - downwind'), (562, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - base turn'), (563, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - base leg/base to final'), (564, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - final approach'), (565, 500, 'Go-around (VFR)'), (566, 500, 'Approach - IAF to FAF/outer marker (IFR)'), (567, 500, 'Approach - FAF/outer marker to threshold (IFR)'), (568, 500, 'Circling (IFR)'), (569, 500, 'Missed approach (IFR)'), (570, 550, 'Landing'), (571, 550, 'Landing - flare/touchdown'), (572, 550, 'Landing - roll'), (573, 550, 'Landing - aborted'), (574, 550, 'Emergency landing'), (575, 550, 'Emergency landing after takeoff'), (576, 600, 'Emergency descent/landing'), (580, 450, 'Maneuvering'), (581, 450, 'Maneuvering - aerial application'), (582, 450, 'Maneuvering - turn to reverse direction'), (583, 450, 'Maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency)'), (590, 450, 'Hover'), (591, 450, 'Hover - in ground effect'), (592, 450, 'Hover - out of ground effect'), (600, 800, 'Other'), (610, 990, 'Unknown')),
  current_codes AS (
    SELECT e.case_mkey, TRY_CAST(e."tier1Number" AS INTEGER) AS code,
      row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY e.case_mkey ORDER BY coalesce(e."isDefiningEvent", false) DESC, e.position) AS n
    FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' e
    WHERE e.aircrafts_position = 1 AND e."tier1Number" GLOB '[1-9][0-9]*'
      AND (e."isDefiningEvent" OR e.case_mkey IN (SELECT "mKey" FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' WHERE "isPre1982"))
  ),
  phases AS (
    SELECT case_mkey, 'current' AS scheme, code, CASE WHEN code >= 990 THEN 990 ELSE code // 50 * 50 END AS main
    FROM current_codes WHERE n = 1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT o.case_mkey, 'older', o."phaseOfFlightCode", w.main
    FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_occurrences.parquet' o JOIN crosswalk w ON w.code = o."phaseOfFlightCode"
    WHERE o.aircrafts_position = 1 AND o."occurrenceNumber" = 1 AND o.case_mkey NOT IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM current_codes)
  ),
  case_phases AS (
    SELECT p.*, c."eventDate", c."highestInjuryLevel" = 'Fatal' AS fatal, a.aircraft_model_code
    FROM phases p JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c ON c."mKey" = p.case_mkey
    LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = p.case_mkey AND a.position = 1
    WHERE c."eventDate" >= DATE '1962-01-01' AND p.main IN (SELECT main FROM phase_names)
  )
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."eventStateOrRegion" = 'NC' AND c."eventCountry" = 'USA'
  AND c."mKey" IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM case_phases WHERE main = 600)
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/600/cases?state=NC

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