NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ATL90FA183
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN THE PROPER ALTITUDE WHICH RESULTED IN THE INADVERTENT DESCENT INTO THE GROUND, AND HIS DIVERTED ATTENTION TO ANOTHER AIRPLANE. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE FOG, DARK NIGHT, FATIGUE FROM LACK OF SLEEP, AND A LACK OF RECENT NIGHT LANDINGS.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT & PAX HAD RETURNED TO THE HOME FIELD AFTER A LONG WORK DAY THAT BEGAN BEFORE 9 AM. UPON ARRIVAL AT THE AIRPORT FOG HAD COVERED THE NORTH THRESHOLD & THE AREA ADJACENT TO THE RWY FROM THE SW TO THE NE. ANOTHER ACFT WAS ALSO ARRIVING IN THE LANDING PATTERN. THE PILOT MADE 2 ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS TO LAND VISUALLY BECAUSE HE HAD POSITIONED THE ACFT TOO CLOSE TO THE RWY. THE LAST RADAR POSITION OF THE ACFT WAS A LEFT DOWNWIND LEG FOR RWY 17. THE ACFT IMPACTED EAST OF THE FIELD WHILE IN A DESCENDING RIGHT TURN. FOG & LACK OF GROUND LIGHTS TO THE NORTH OF THE AIRPORT WERE REPORTED BY LOCAL WITNESSES. THE PILOT WAS PROBABLY TIRED, & DISTRACTED BY THE ADDITIONAL ACFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_ATL90FA183.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.