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ATL89FA189

1989-08-03 · ATLANTA, Georgia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ATL

N5509K has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BUCKEYE INDUSTRIES SKYHAWK, built 2001), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO PLACE THE AIRPLANE AT A POSITION FROM WHICH A STABILIZED APPROACH TO LANDING COULD BE MADE. HIS PROCEDURE FOR THE RECOVERY FROM THE BOUNCED LANDING WAS INADEQUATE AND THE NOSE GEAR STRUCTURAL STRENGTH WAS EXCEEDED DURING FOLLOWING TOUCHDOWNS.

Factual narrative

DURING THE DESCENT TO THE OUTER MARKER FOR A VISUAL APPROACH WITH AN ILS BACKUP TO RUNWAY 26R, THE PILOT IN COMMAND DID NOT DESCEND TO A POINT WHERE A STABILIZED APPROACH TO LANDING COULD BE COMPLETED. THE AIRPLANE REPORTEDLY CROSSED THE OUTER MARKER WITH A FULL SCALE FLY DOWN DEFLECTION ON THE ILS GLIDE SLOPE INDICATOR. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE ATTAINED THE GLIDE SLOPE FROM ABOVE WHEN HE WAS ABOUT ONE MILE FROM THE THRESHOLD. THE AIRPLANE WAS FLARED FOR LANDING AT AN EXCESSIVE ALTITUDE AND TOUCHDOWN WAS NOT MADE UNTIL AT LEAST 1,500 FEET DOWN THE RUNWAY. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN HARD, BOUNCED AND ON THE SECOND TOUCHDOWN MADE RUNWAY CONTACT WITH ALL THREE GEARS OR POSSIBLY SLIGHTLY NOSE GEAR FIRST. THE NOSE GEAR DRAG LINK FRACTURED, THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED AND THE AIRPLANE CAME TO A STOP ON ITS MAIN GEAR AND THE FUSELAGE NOSE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL89FA189.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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