ATL90FA081

1990-03-17 · MONTEZUMA, Georgia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 53A

Aircraft involved

N734JE Cessna 172N Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED DURING THE TAKEOFF.

Factual narrative

THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT WAS CONDUCTING INSTRUMENT TRAINING WITH THE PRIVATE PILOT. WITNESSES STATED THAT DURING TAKEOFF THE AIRCRAFT APPEARED TO BE IN A VERY NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE. THE AIRCRAFT MADE A SHARP LEFT TURN FOLLOWED BY A STEEP NOSE DOWN DESCENT AND IMPACTED THE TERRAIN. THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED BY THE IMPACT AND THE POST CRASH FIRE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL90FA081.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.