NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ANC89LA171
Registry · N5450E
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
HELIO H-250
Engine
LYCOMING 0-540 SERIES (250 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19650320
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A6ECDC
Registrant of record
MILLER BYRON W
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION BY THE PILOT AND HIS CONTINUED FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS AND ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Factual narrative
THE PLT DID NOT RECEIVE A WX BRIEFING FOR THE RETURN FLT, BECAUSE HE HAD JUST FLOWN OVER THE AREA. DURING THE RETURN FLT, HE ENCOUNTERED OBSCURED CEILINGS, REDUCED VISIBILITIES, HEAVY RAIN, FREEZING RAIN, & SEVERE TURBULENCE. ACCORDING TO THE PLT, THE ACFT SUBSEQUENTLY LANDED IN A SWAMP & CREEK AT NIGHT. HE STATED HE HAD SLOWED THE ACFT TO 25 TO 30 KTS, WHEN THE ACFT MADE CONTACT WITH THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE SLID APRX 40 FT TO A STOP. THE FLT VISIBILITY WAS RPRTD TO BE ZERO, WHEN THE ACFT CONTACTED THE GROUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_ANC89LA171.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (imc, turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗