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Atlas / NTSB / ATL84LA144

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ATL84LA144

1984-04-14 KILL DEVIL HILL, North Carolina, United States Airport · FFA Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE ACFT WAS THE 4TH ACFT TO TAKE OFF OF 7 SCHEDULED TO MAKE A FORMATION FLY-BY OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS NATIONAL MEMORIAL. AS THE ACFT TOOK OFF TO JOIN UP FOR THE FLT, A THICK LOW FOG BANK ROLLED IN. THE OTHER ACFT DEPARTED THE AREA, BUT THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO THE ARPT UNDER THE FOG. THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED MAKING A LEFT HAND CIRCLE OVER THE NW CORNER OF THE ARPT. ABOUT 1/2 THRU A 2ND 360 DEG TURN, THE ACFT ENTERED A VERY STEEP DIVE, COLLIDED WITH A TREE &THEN FELL TO THE GROUND. THE OTHER ACFT HAD AVOIDED THE FOG & WERE ABLE TO LAND SHORTLY AFTER THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_ATL84LA144.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.