# NTSB investigations, 1985: 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 DEN86LA037](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN86LA037.md): Grumman AA-5A · Fort Collins, CO · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Dec 1, 1985 · N991OU · Substantial damage
  > The plt stated that during takeoff roll the acft used over twice the normal distance to rwy to become airborne. After becoming airborne, the stall warning sounded, and continued to sound until the forced landing when the plt said he couldnot maintain alt. The…
- [NTSB LAX86LA026](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX86LA026.md): Grumman American AA-5A · Flagstaff, AZ · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Oct 25, 1985 · N26714 · Substantial damage
  > The plt reported that while sight-seeing in the vicinity of the grand canyon, he became disoriented and lost. The fuel in the left tank was exhausted and the right fuel tank contained minimum fuel. The pilot negotiated a precautionary landing on the hard…
- [NTSB CHI85LA298](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI85LA298.md): Piper PA-28-140 · Pepin, WI · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jul 19, 1985 · N38174 · Destroyed
  > The aircraft traveled three quarters down a 2300 foot sod runway and the pilot attempted to takeoff with 55 KIAS. The aircraft mushed into trees off the end of the runway when the pilot couldn't obtain flying speed. The pilot reported full engine RPM was…
- [NTSB CHI85LA294](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI85LA294.md): Piper PA-28-161 · Schaumburg, IL · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jul 17, 1985 · N4349K · Substantial damage
  > The acft contacted a ditch during a forced landing following a loss of pwr shortly after takeoff. The plt reported that at an alt of aprx 200 ft AGL, during the takeoff climb, a total loss of pwr occurred. A left turn was made in an attemptto avoid buildings…
- [NTSB CHI85LA297](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI85LA297.md): Piper PA-22 · Iola, WI · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jul 13, 1985 · N1487A · Substantial damage
  > Upon takeoff at approximately 100 ft AGL the pilot experienced a partial power loss which necessitated a forced landing in a soft, wet potato field. The pilot had time to switch fuel tanks and magnetos prior to touchdown, but the power loss remained constant.…
- [NTSB ATL85LA203](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL85LA203.md): Stinson 108-2 · Lewisburg, WV · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jul 2, 1985 · N9818K · Substantial damage
  > Acft lost power in cruise flight shortly after takeoff. Descent was begun to a field followed by engine quitting. During the turn to final, pilot said, left wing stalled resulting in hard landing on left wheel and left wing. Later, fuel cap vents were found…
- [NTSB ANC85LA060](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC85LA060.md): Piper PA-22 · Kanektok River, AK · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Mar 25, 1985 · N4810A · Substantial damage
  > The plt reported after a short fld takeoff, the eng dropped to about 1000 RPM; the plt then attempted an emergency landing. Upon touchdown, the acft settled into the snow and nosed over. The plt stated the eng failure was due to carb ice.
- [NTSB ATL85LA122](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL85LA122.md): Cessna 182L · Falmouth, KY · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Mar 24, 1985 · N42616 · Destroyed
  > During flt in IMC conditions at 9000 ft MSL, the plt noted a loss of airspeed indications. He requested & received clearance to descend. During the descent, he elected to divert & received vectors for a nearby arpt. However, when he attempted to level off,…
- [NTSB MIA85LA129](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA85LA129.md): Grumman AA-5 · Okeechobee, FL · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Mar 22, 1985 · N5867L · Substantial damage
  > While in cruise flt the plt placed the acft in a dive to avoid what appeared to be the landing light of another acft. The light was actually a space vehicle which had just been launched from cape canaveral air force station 60 miles from the acft's position.…
- [NTSB DEN85LA078](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN85LA078.md): Raven S55A · Littleton, CO · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jan 13, 1985 · N81DS · Substantial damage
  > The balloon envelope collided with power lines after dragging the basket & occupants aprx 200 yards along an open fld and through a fence which damaged the basket containing the occupants. The balloon plt said that the wind was only 5 KTS at takeoff but after…

## 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 year(c."eventDate") = 1985
  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?year=1985

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OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.
