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MIA89LA168 · Beech A24R

4 Jun 1989 · Gulfport, MS, United States

Capital City Air Service Beech A24R · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route

From Pensacola International Airport (PNS) to Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (BTR)

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Event

NTSB case
MIA89LA168
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

Beech A24R

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 24
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
N9700Q
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Pensacola International Airport (PNS), Pensacola, FLTo Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (BTR), Baton Rouge, LA
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
En route · cruise
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 (mechanical failure)
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
Wire, transmission; 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

  • Engine assembly, connecting rod › Failure, total

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

WHILE CRUISING IN VFR CONDS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN, THE ENG FAILED & THE PLT ELECTED TO LAND ON A ROAD. AS HE WAS MAKING AN APCH TO LAND, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH A POWER LINE & A TREE. AN EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THE #2 CONNECTING ROD ASSEMBLY HAD FAILED & THE #2 CYLINDER HAD SUBSEQUENTLY SEPARATED. ACCORDING TO THE ACFT OWNER, THE ACFT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN INVOLVED IN A SUDDEN ENG STOPPAGE AFTER THE NOSE GEAR HAD COLLAPSED. THE ENG WAS THEN OVERHAULED. AFTER ABOUT ANOTHER 15 HRS OF OPN, THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED AGAIN. SUBSEQUENTLY, A DIE PENETRANT CHECK & RUNOUT OF THE CRANKSHAFT FLANGE WAS MADE. ACCORDING TO THE ENG MANUFACTURER, THE INSTALLED CONNECTING RODS & BEARINGS DID NOT CONFORM TO LYCOMING SVC BULLETING #439, DATED 2/17/79. THE ACFT HAD BEEN OPERATED SOME 200 TO 300 HRS SINCE THE LAST ENG OVERHAUL (FOLLOWING THE 1ST GEAR COLLAPSE).

Probable cause

FAILURE OF A #2 CONNECTING ROD ASSEMBLY, WHICH RESULTED IN SEPARATION OF THE #2 CYLINDER AND SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE, THE TRANSMISSION (POWER) LINE, AND TREES.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA89LA168
Event ID
20001213X28616
Case number
MIA89LA168
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: 9d78c6bcaa80ad5c19ec437b6e01128b6ac0a0218300232f8ca23bbda1035462; retrieved 2026-09-23T07:32:36.096Z.