Skip to content

ATL90LA027

1989-11-14 · MORRISVILLE, North Carolina, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RDU

N4945F has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 II, built 2002), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FOR AN UNKNOWN REASON. THE DARK NIGHT AND INSTRUMENT CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT.

Factual narrative

THE FLIGHT HAD INTERCEPTED THE GLIDE SLOPE, WITH THE LANDING GEAR AND FLAPS EXTENDED, WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT. THE PILOT ESTABLISHED AN 85 KNOT EMERGENCY GLIDE ON THE LOCALIZER COURSE. ATTEMPTS TO START THE ENGINE FAILED. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TREES, FELL TO THE GROUND AND BURNED. THE PILOT MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE BURNING AIRPLANE WITH MINOR INJURIES. THE WRECKAGE EXAMINATION FAILED TO DISCLOSE ANY MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. THE PILOT DID NOT REPORT MOVING THE FUEL MIXTURE LEVER TO THE RICH POSITION. NORMAL AND EMERGENCY PROCEDURES INSTRUCT THE PILOT TO RETURN THE MIXTURE LEVER TO THE RICH POSITION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90LA027.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.