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ATL91FA041

1991-01-19 · LAFAYETTE, Tennessee, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 3M7

N99RN has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (NEWMAN ROBERT C GLASTAR), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE FOR AN UNDETERMINED REASON. THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, DARKNESS, AND RADIO TOWER WERE RELATED FACTORS.

Factual narrative

DURING AN IFR FLT AT NIGHT, THE PLT ENCOUNTERED LIGHT RIME ICING CONDITIONS AND WAS CLEARED TO DSCND FROM 7000 FT TO 5000 FT MSL. ABOUT 14 MIN LATER, HE RPRTD THAT AN ENG POWER LOSS HAD OCCURRED AND THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE. WHILE BEING VECTORED TO A NEARBY ARPT, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH A 112 FT HAM RADIO TOWER, ABOUT 60 FT AGL, THEN CRASHED. WITNESSES RPRTD THE ENG WAS AT IDLE POWER DURING IMPACT. DURING AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ACDNT, NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE, FUEL CONTAMINATION OR VERIFICATION OF STRUCTURAL ICE WAS FOUND. THE HAM RADIO TOWER WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH AN IDENTIFICATION LIGHT, NOR WAS THERE A REQUIREMENT FOR IT TO BE LIGHTED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_ATL91FA041.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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