NTSB ATL90FA158 — 1990-08-11 · LOCUST GROVE, Georgia, United States

Current FAA registration · N9871C

Make / Model: NORTH AMERICAN T-6G
Year of manufacture: 1949 · 41 years old at event
Engine: P&W R1340 SERIES (600 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19590203
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S ADC7A3

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N9871C North American T-6G Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRCRAFT CONTROL DURING MANEUVERING FLIGHT, ALLOWING THE AIRPLANE TO STALL WITHOUT SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE FOR RECOVERY.

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A STEEP, NOSE HIGH, LEFT TURN. ONE WITNESS STATED THAT HE (THE PILOT) 'HONKED IT UP' AND 'REALLY YANKED IT BACK'. WHEN THE AIRPLANE WAS ABOUT 300 TO 400 FEET AGL, THE WINGS LEVELED, 'WAGGED', AND THE AIRPLANE THEN ROLLED INTO THE TERRAIN IN A STEEP, NOSE LOW ATTITUDE. REPORTEDLY, THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN TOPPED WITH FUEL PRIOR TO TAKEOFF. ALL WITNESSES STATED THAT THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING ALL THE WAY TO GROUND IMPACT. AN EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE DID NOT REVEAL EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL90FA158.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers