Overall Trends
Total, fatal, and serious accidents in the selected range.
Search investigations, review source evidence, monitor watched reports, and trace long-term patterns from one calm, data-first workspace.
Fast key and full-text search with live filters, watches, and precise metadata.
Use quotes for exact phrase matches (for example "fuel selector valve").
Track fatal and non-fatal accident patterns across Part 91, Part 135, and Part 121 operations.
Major cases, deep-report coverage, and investigation media across decades of NTSB history.
Move quickly by aircraft, airport, operator, and time with indexes built for research, not wandering.
NTSB Reports is an independent research and search tool for public aviation accident and incident records. It brings NTSB aviation reports, structured fields, docket files, extracted figures, photos, videos, and update history into one searchable interface.
The goal is practical safety education: make it faster to find relevant investigations, compare similar events, review factual records, and understand the evidence behind probable-cause and preliminary reports.
The investigative work and source records belong to the National Transportation Safety Board and the published investigation record. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NTSB.
Chugiak, AK
The pilot reported the experimental amateur built airplane he was flying had a loss of engine power while climbing in the traffic pattern after takeoff. He said he had insufficient altitude to return to the airstrip, and had to land near a railroad track. During the landing roll, the airplane encountered a ditch and received substantial damage. The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that the loss of engine power was due to a broken spark plug in one of the engine's two cylinders.
The loss of engine power during initial climb due to a broken spark plug.
On August 22, 2001, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, an experimental Thomson Avid Flyer, N47065, received substantial damage following a loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing near the Birchwood Airport, Chugiak, Alaska. The solo private pilot/owner was not injured. The local 14 CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions. In a written statement to the NTSB dated August 27, the pilot related he had departed from runway 19L at the Birchwood Airport, and had climbed to approximately 800 feet msl in the ultralight pattern, when the engine starting missing and then quit. He wrote he was about 1/2 mile from the end of the runway, but was unable to glide that distance, and elected to land on the only flat spot available near adjacent railroad tracks. He said the airplane bounced once on landing, and then collided with a ditch, collapsing the main landing gear. The pilot said the loss of engine power was due to a broken spark plug on one of the two engine cylinders. Postaccident inspection of the airplane by an FAA inspector from the Anchorage Flight Standards District Office, disclosed substantial damage to the fuselage tubing structure near the main landing gear.