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MIA85FA077 · Beech A36TC

11 Jan 1985 · Boca Raton, FL, United States

Beech A36TC · Accident: loss of engine power during initial climb

From Boca Raton Airport (BCT) to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF)

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Event

NTSB case
MIA85FA077
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
1 · 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 A36TC

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 36
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
N3872D
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Boca Raton Airport (BCT), Boca Raton, FLTo Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF), Opa-locka, FL
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
Initial climb
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
Loss of engine power
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
Stall
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Airspeed, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › Emergency procedure, improper
  • Pilot in command › Maneuver, excessive
  • Pilot in command › Stall, performed
  • Reason for occurrence undetermined

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

NTSB narrative

THE ACFT CRASHED IN A STEEP UNCONTROLLED DESCENT SHORTLY AFTER THE ENG LOST POWER DURING THE INITIAL TAKEOFF CLIMB. WITNESSES STATED THAT THE ACFT WAS SEEN DEPARTING ON RWY 4 AFTER WHICH IT CLIMBED TO 200 FT AGL (APRX). THE ENG WAS HEARD SPUTTERING BUT STILL RUNNING. THE ACFT ENTERED A 90 DEGREE BANK TO THE LEFT & STARTED TO DESCEND. NO FURTHER ENG SOUNDS WERE HEARD DURING THE BANKING MANEUVER. THE ACFT DESCENDED BEHIND TREES AND A LOUD CRASH WAS FOLLOWED BY BILLOWING SMOKE. THE PLT WAS PRONOUNCED, BY FLORIDA DIST 15 MEDICAL EXAMINER, TO HAVE DIED OF A IMPACT FORCES. NO MECHANICAL REASONS FOR THE ENG SPUTTERING COULD BE FOUND ROTATION AT IMPACT. THE COCKPIT INSTRUMENTATION AND ENG CONTROLS WERE DESTROYED BY FIRE TO PRECLUDE THEIR USE IN DETERMINATION OF CAUSE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA85FA077
Event ID
20001214X35567
Case number
MIA85FA077
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: 8ed10ba0156f468bd383cc841184fae73d93a104ac5da647a9f20c14fe8b86d9; retrieved 2026-09-21T05:10:35.548Z.