NYC06LA144 · Taylorcraft BC12-D
Taylorcraft BC12-D · Accident: loss of control in flight while maneuvering
From Dart Airport (D79) to Dart Airport (D79)
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC06LA144
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Aircraft type
- Taylorcraft BC12
- 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
- N96486
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Dart Airport (D79), Mayville, NYTo Dart Airport (D79), Mayville, NY
- 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
- Maneuvering
- 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 control in flight
- 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
- Pilot in command(cfi) › Altitude/clearance, not maintained
- Pilot in command(cfi) › Impairment(drugs)
- Pilot in command(cfi) › Planning/decision, improper
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The student pilot initiated a takeoff, and as the airplane reached an altitude of 200 to 600 feet, the CFI "pulled the power" to simulate an engine failure. The student pilot "shoved" the nose of the airplane down, assured the airspeed was 60 mph, and initiated a "gentle" left turn. While the airplane was turning, the student pilot noticed the CFI was "preoccupied" with something on the instrument panel. Shortly after, the CFI took control of the airplane, and stated, "I'll fly now." The airplane then struck power lines and trees, and impacted the ground. Examination of the airplane and engine revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies. The pilot had been treated for chronic back pain for approximately 10 years, and had become addicted to pain medication. Additionally, she suffered from severe abdominal symptoms, likely caused by her dependence on narcotics. During the 4 years preceding the accident, the pilot was prescribed multiple narcotics to treat her pain. At the time of the accident, the pilot was regularly filling prescriptions for fentanyl (an imparing narcotic) patches and carisoprodol (a sedative muscle relaxant) at least every four weeks. She was also taking gabapentin (an anti-seizure medication, also used to treat chronic pain), and fFluconazole (a prescription n antifungal medication prescribed 8 days prior to the accident, which had the potential to substantially interfere with the metabolism of fentanyl). The pilot was found wearing fentanyl patches in excess of the amount prescribed. Postaccident toxicology testing performed on the pilot revealed fentanyl, carisoprodol, fluconazole, and gabapentin was detected in the pilot'sin her blood and urine. The level of fentanyl detected in the pilot's blood was several times the maximum expected from typical use of doses prescribed. The pilot had not noted her narcoctic dependence or use of any medications other than ibuprofen, on her applications for airmen medical certification. If they had been reported, the certificate would have been denied.
Probable cause
The flight instructor's improper decision to attempt a simulated engine failure at a low altitude and her failure to maintain clearance from trees and wires, while maneuvering. Also causal was the flight instructor's impairment from prescription medication.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC06LA144
- Event ID
- 20060622X00801
- Case number
- NYC06LA144
- 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, coordinates. 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: 4f27d942e7f19048cd7a4fdb92a21564ffe1fd588f20409f472226aeb153769e; retrieved 2026-09-20T17:17:55.103Z.