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ATL89LA111

1989-03-18 · LENOIR, North Carolina, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport NC27

N41HB has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AMERICAN AA-1, built 1969), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT DISREGARDED THE APPARENT SEVERITY OF THE APPROACHING THUNDERSTORMS AND ATTEMPTED A CIRCUIT OF THE AIRPORT UNDER VISUAL FLIGHT RULES WHEN IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE. THE PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT FLIGHT EXPERIENCE WAS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR.

Factual narrative

THE EVIDENCE INDICATED THAT THE PILOT AND/OR OTHERS HAD JUST COMPLETED REASSEMBLY OF HIS AIRPLANE AFTER HAVING IT REPAINTED AT AN AUTOMOTIVE PAINT SHOP. AFTER FUELING THE TANKS HE ELECTED TO TRY A FLIGHT AROUND THE LOCAL PVT AIRSTRIP IN THE VICINITY OF RAPIDLY APPROACHING THUNDERSTORMS. JUST AFTER LIFT OFF, HE ENCOUNTERED HEAVY RAIN AND ABORTED THE FIRST LANDING ATTEMPT. HE THEN TRIED TO MAKE A LOW ALTITUDE TEARDROP APPROACH TO LANDING ON THE OPPOSITE RUNWAY. DURING THE TURN TO FINAL, THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO ROLL INVERTED AAND COLLIDE WITH THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE AND PILOT HAD NOT FLOWN FOR OVER THREE MONTHS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL89LA111.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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