# NTSB investigations, 1987: 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 MIA88LA036](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA88LA036.md): Raven S-66A · Naples, FL · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Nov 5, 1987 · N4094G · Substantial damage
  > After liftoff with the deflation panel partially open, the flt continued towards the landing location. With a high rate of descent established, the plt realized that the balloon would not clear the powerlines that were ahead of the landing location. He then…
- [NTSB ATL88LA018](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL88LA018.md): Burkhart Grob G-102 · Whitwell, TN · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Oct 18, 1987 · N792G · Substantial damage
  > The glider plt made an off-arpt ldg after realizing that he didn't have enough altitude to return to his departure point. During ldg rollout on uneven terrain, one of the wingtips contacted the terrain and the glider ground-looped.
- [NTSB NYC87LA174](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC87LA174.md): Cessna 172 · West Milford, NJ · Accident · Minor injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 16, 1987 · N9638L · Substantial damage
  > The Cessna 172 is reported to have lost power after getting airborne while making a short field takeoff from a 1838 ft long runway. The student pilot told the operator he landed the aircraft on the remaining runway and ran off the departure end of the runway.…
- [NTSB NYC87LA136](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC87LA136.md): Beech BE-18 · York, PA · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Apr 30, 1987 · N66PA · Substantial damage
  > While the aircraft was being ferried from massy, Maryland to ankeny, Iowa, a loss of oil pressure on the left engine was experienced. A precautionary landing was made in a cornfield with the landing gear in the up position when the gear failed to extend. Fire…
- [NTSB FTW87LA107](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW87LA107.md): Bell 47D1 · Ardmore, OK · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Apr 25, 1987 · N3575 · Substantial damage
  > The pilot reportedly heard an unusual noise in the engine and made a precautionary autorotation to landing. Touchdown was on uneven terrain and in a nose low attitude. This resulted in the tail rotor assembly being chopped off the tail boom by the main rotor…
- [NTSB MKC87LA093](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MKC87LA093.md): Forney Ercoupe · Omaha, NE · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Apr 24, 1987 · N7515C · Substantial damage
  > The annual inspection on this acft was completed the day prior to this accident. During this flt, the wire holding the fuel filter bowl in place came loose and the bowl came off. The eng quit from fuel starvation and the plt made a forced landing in a plowed…
- [NTSB ATL87LA116](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL87LA116.md): Cessna 177 · Brookville, OH · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Apr 18, 1987 · N2356Y · Substantial damage
  > The plt reported a partial pwr loss at about 30 ft AGL during the initial takeoff climb. He elected to land straight ahead in a soft, plowed field. The acft nosed over during the landing. Post accident inspection revealed evidence of water in the fuel lines.
- [NTSB FTW87FA090](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW87FA090.md): Piper PA-38-112 · Uvalde, TX · Accident · Minor injuries · Field investigation · Final report · Apr 2, 1987 · N4450E · Substantial damage
  > On 04-02-87, a Piper PA-38-112, N5540E, owned and operated by southwest Texas junior college, impacted the terrain near Uvalde, TX. The flight was conducted for training purposes. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The…
- [NTSB LAX87LA104](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX87LA104.md): Schweizer SGS 2-33 · Marana, AZ · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jan 31, 1987 · N5727S · Substantial damage
  > During a winch tow, the cable prematurely released the glider at approximately 100 to 150 feet. The glider remained in a nose high attitude momentarily then began a shallow descending right turn. At approximately 75 feet the roll, pitch, and descent rate…

## 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") = 1987
  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=1987

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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.