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ATL91LA165

1991-08-31 · MORGANTON, North Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MRN

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE ON THE RUNWAY, AND THE INADVERTENT ROTATION OF THE AIRPLANE, RESULTING IN AN UNPLANNED FLIGHT.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS PERFORMING HIGH-SPEED TAXI TESTS ON THE RUNWAY. THERE WAS NO INTENT FOR FLIGHT. THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE WAS NEWLY BUILT, AND HAD NEVER BEEN FLOWN. THE PILOT HAD NO EXPERIENCE IN THIS MODEL. WHILE TAXIING DOWN THE RUNWAY WITH THE ENGINE RPM SET AT 2,600, THE LEFT WING BECAME AIRBORNE. THE PILOT TRIED TO RIGHT THE AIRPLANE, HOWEVER IT DRIFTED TO THE RIGHT AND OFF OF THE RUNWAY SURFACE. THE AIRPLANE THEN BECAME AIRBORNE, AND THE PILOT ADDED FULL THROTTLE. THE AIRCRAFT WOULD NOT CLIMB, AND THE ENGINE RPM WOULD NOT INCREASE, SO THE PILOT ELECTED TO LAND IN AN ADJACENT FIELD. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TERRAIN DURING THE FORCED LANDING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_ATL91LA165.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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