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ATL90FA024

1989-11-05 · GADSDEN, Alabama, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GAD

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOTS OF BOTH AIRCRAFT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT TO SEE-AND-AVOID THE OTHER AIRCRAFT.

Factual narrative

A BEECH C90 (N3804F) & A CESSNA 172 (N52244) COLLIDED AT AN ALT OF ABOUT 200 TO 300 FT AGL AS THE 2 ACFT WERE TAKING OFF ON INTERSECTING RWYS AT AN UNCONTROLLED ARPT. THE BEECH PLTS WERE DEPARTING FROM RWY 6 WITH AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN, WHILE THE CESSNA PLTS WERE IN THE PATTERN ON AN INSTRUCTIONAL FLT, PERFORMING A TOUCH & GO. TWO ATP PILOTS WERE IN THE BEECH; AN INSTRUCTOR PLT (CFI) & A LOW-TIME STUDENT WERE IN THE CESSNA. BASED ON WITNESS INFORMATION, THE CESSNA CREW MADE AT LEAST 1 RADIO CALL ON UNICOM WHILE IN THE PATTERN BEFORE LNDG, AND ANOTHER CALL WHILE TAKING OFF. THE BEECH CREW REPORTEDLY MADE A RADIO CALL AS THE TAKEOFF ROLL WAS BEGUN. NEITHER FLT CREW APPEARED TO TAKE ANY EVASIVE ACTION UNTIL JUST BEFORE IMPACT. THE BEECH PLTS HAD RECEIVED A FLT PLAN CLEARANCE ON ANOTHER FREQ SHORTLY BEFORE TAKING OFF. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90FA024.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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