- Date
- April 6, 1989, 02:40 local (06:40 UTC)
- Place
- Utica, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N90437Smith, Ted Aerostar Aerostar 600
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 10, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890406006539A
- Case key
- 36393
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
A fire in the cockpit from an unknown source.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft was aprx 40 mi south of Utica, NY, when the plt notified ATC that he was getting smoke in the cockpit. As a landing was made at Utica, a fire erupted in the cockpit. Subsequently, the cockpit was extensively damaged by fire. Due to the extensive damage, the source of the fire was not determined. No discrepancies were found with the eng or propeller.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90437
- Reported as
- Smith, Ted Aerostar Aerostar 600 (AEROSTAR 6)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 600243100
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1F5, 290 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- U.S. Check, Inc.
- Registered owner
- U.S. Check, Inc
- Departed
- Teterboro, NJ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- UCA · Onieda County
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 27
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,840 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.