Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:24 pm
The problem appears to me that there is no online database that reports all "incidents" in 1976. The FAA's detailed online database starts in 1978. The NTSB doesn't investigate all incidents, and so absence from their database isn't conclusive. I tried to find a database of digitized paper copies of the accident/incident reports from 1976, but no luck.
Had an engine fire caused a forced landing in a field, there would be an incident report somewhere. It is true that it might not be found in an online database, but it would be found in a paper archive if such an event had actually occurred.
https://www.archives.gov/research/trans ... -accidents
Aircraft accident reports can be found in the Minutes of Meetings of the Civil Aeronautics Authority 1938-40 and the Civil Aeronautics Board, 1940-78 (MLR A1 E-34A, boxes 1-511) in the Office of the Secretary. The CAA minutes are arranged chronologically by year and the CAB minutes are arranged by year and month. There are accident reports, ranging from a paragraph to a several page report, located in each month of the minutes. The reports are submitted to the board anytime up to a year and a half after the date of the accident. Therefore, a search must be made of each month's minutes subsequent to the accident. The search involves checking the monthly index to determine the page number for the minutes. In some cases, particularly in the 1960's, the index will refer to a page listing board actions, which then refers you to an exhibit containing the accident reports.
The accident reports include, at a minimum:
information concerning the date
type of aircraft
owner
number of passengers
some mention of the circumstances of the accident