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ATL90FA040

1989-12-17 · CINCINNATI, Ohio, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LUK

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER, DUE TO BINDING, BENDING, AND SUBSEQUENT FAILURE OF THE THROTTLE/CABLE ASSEMBLY. THE OBSTRUCTIONS WERE A RELATED FACTOR.

Factual narrative

WITNESSES NOTED THAT AFTER THE BANNER WAS SNAGGED DURING A PICKUP (WITH A CESSNA 182, N8940T), THERE WAS LITTLE OR NO INCREASE IN POWER & THAT THE PLT IMMEDIATELY RELEASED THE BANNER. THEY NOTED THE CESSNA SEEMED TO MUSH AS THE PLT TRIEDTO AVOID OBSTRUCTIONS; HOWEVER, THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A HELICOPTER (ENTROM F-28, N550TA). BOTH ACFT WERE EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED. DURING A POST-ACDNT EXAM OF THE CESSNA, THE THROTTLE LINKAGE WOULD NOT OPERATE FROM THE COCKPIT. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED A SEPN BETWEEN THE LINKAGE HOUSING & THROTTLE STEM, AS WELL AS A PERMANENT BEND IN THE STEEL INNER CABLE (ABOUT 10' FM THE CONTROL KNOB). NO OTHER ENG PROBLEM WAS FOUND. DURING AN OPNL CHECK OF THE ENG, IT RAN NORMALLY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90FA040.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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