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ATL90LA039

1989-12-26 · MUSCLE SHOALS, Alabama, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MSL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PREMATURE FLARE INITIATED BY THE STUDENT PILOT AND THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S DELAY IN TAKING REMEDIAL ACTION, WHICH LED TO AN INADVERTENT STALL AND A HARD LANDING.

Factual narrative

THE AIRPLANE LANDED HARD DURING A TOUCH AND GO LANDING. THE STUDENT REPORTED THAT HE FLARED THE AIRPLANE 'TOO SOON' AND STALLED THE AIRPLANE ABOVE THE RUNWAY. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR REPORTED THAT HE REPEATEDLY TOLD THE STUDENT TO RELEASE ELEVATOR BACK PRESSURE, BUT THE STUDENT FAILED TO RESPOND. THE INSTRUCTOR THEN TOOK CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE AND ATTEMPTED TO RECOVER FROM THE PREMATURE FLARE. THE AIRPLANE STALLED AND DROPPED TO THE RUNWAY BEFORE HE COULD COMPLETE THE RECOVERY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90LA039.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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