- Date
- October 28, 1989, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Willimantic, ME
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N68972Boeing B75N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891028045039A
- Case key
- 36578
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
An inadvertent stall clearing trees during a forced landing following a power loss due to a fuel line separating from the carburetor and fuel starvation.
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 Boeing model 75 stearman was on a local flight approximately one mile from the airport when a power loss occurred. The pilot attempted to return to the airport for a downwind landing, however he was too high. He entered an inadvertent stall clearing trees while doing a series of turns and slips to lose altitude for a landing. Post crash examination of the aircraft showed that a brass fitting for the fuel line into the carburetor was cracked and had separated.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68972
- Reported as
- Boeing B75N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-5066
- Airframe hours
- 68
- Engine
- Continental W670-6A, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Herman Bayerdorffer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic
- Departed
- ME79 · Willimantic, ME
- Airport
- ME79 · Two Falls, runway 13, 1,700 × 45 ft, grass/turf
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 2,716 total · 11 in this make and model · 2,636 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °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.