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ATL87LA073

1987-02-18 · NASHVILLE, Tennessee, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BNA

N31590 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (JOHNSON DELMAR G SIX CHUTER, built 1997), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PLT REPORTED THAT HE CONDUCTED AN ILS APPCH BEHIND MIXED JET AND TURBOPROP TRAFFIC; THE ACFT ENCOUNTERED AN 'EXTREME DOWNDRAFT' WHILE ON APPCH AND THE ACFT VERTICAL SPEED WENT FROM ABOUT 500 FPM TO ABOUT 1200 FPM. HE ATTEMPTED TO RECOVER BY ADDING FULL POWER, INCREASING PITCH, AND REDUCING THE FLAP SETTING FROM 25 DEGREES TO 10, BUT WAS UNABLE TO SUFFICIENTLY ARREST THE SINK RATE. THE ACFT SUBSEQUENTLY STRUCK TWO APPCH LIGHTS AND A LOCALIZER PLATFORM ABOUT 1/4 MILE FROM THE RWY. A BEECH 99 LANDING ABOUT 2 MINUTES AHEAD OF THE ACFT REPORTED NO PROBLEM ON THE APPCH. THE FREEZING LEVEL AT NASHVILLE WAS REPORTED TO 900 FT MSL AT 1750 CST. THE PLT REPORTED THAT ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF THE 30 MINUTE FLT HAD BEEN IN THE CLOUDS. AN AIR CARRIER FLT THAT LANDED ABOUT 10 MINUTES AHEAD REPORTED EXPERIENCING 'LOTS OF RIME ICE'. THE PA-32RT-300 POH STATES THAT THE FLAPS SHOULD BE SLOWLY RETRACTED ONLY WHEN A POSITIVE CLIMB RATE IS ESTABLISHED WHEN INITIATING A GO-AROUND FROM A LDG APPCH. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_ATL87LA073.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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