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NYC93LA008 · Cessna 152 II

5 Oct 1992 · Milford, NH, United States

Daniel Webster College Cessna 152 II · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)

From Nashua Airport / Boire Field (ASH) to Nashua Airport / Boire Field (ASH)

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Event

NTSB case
NYC93LA008
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Cessna 152 II

Aircraft type
Cessna 152
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N301DW
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Nashua Airport / Boire Field (ASH), Nashua, NHTo Nashua Airport / Boire Field (ASH)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Other
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Tree(s)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper
  • Pilot in command › Proper glidepath, not maintained

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Milford, NH, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

WHILE PRACTICING SIMULATED ENGINE FAILURES, FROM 4800 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL, THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT PULLED THE MIXTURE LEVER TO THE CUT OFF POSITION CAUSING THE ENGINE TO SHUT DOWN. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT AND STUDENT PILOT CONTINUED WITH 'SIMULATED' ENGINE OUT PROCEDURES UNTIL 2500 FEET WHEN AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO RESTART THE ENGINE. AFTER SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTED RESTARTS, THE INSTRUCTOR MANEUVERED THE AIRPLANE TOWARD THE ORIGINAL SIMULATED FORCED LANDING AREA. HOWEVER, HE OVER SHOT THE FIELD, AND THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES. THE POST-ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED IT WAS CAPABLE OF NORMAL OPERATION.

Probable cause

THE INSTRUCTOR PILOTS IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT PLANNING, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN A PROPER GLIDE PATH TO THE FORCED LANDING AREA. A FACTOR IN THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE INSTRUCTOR'S DECISION TO SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE DURING A 'SIMULATED' ENGINE FAILURE .

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC93LA008
Event ID
20001211X15938
Case number
NYC93LA008
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 420662ad55bf2cc0814131f97873669cd1c996c73115abc40800e42474db30a7; retrieved 2026-09-23T02:33:58.914Z.