BFO90FA036

1990-04-22 · ONA, West Virginia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 12V

Aircraft involved

N5886U Piper PA-28-140 Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE IMPROPERLY SET STABILATOR TRIM AND THE IMPROPERLY LOADED AIRCRAFT.

Factual narrative

WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT LIFTOFF THE RUNWAY AT A SLOWER THAN NORMAL SPEED AND FAIL TO GAIN ALTITUDE. THE AIRCRAFT JUST CLEARED A RIDGELINE OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY IN A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE, ROLLED TO THE LEFT AND COLLIDED WITH TREES. EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THE STABILATOR TRIM SET IN A NOSE HIGH SETTING. COMPUTATION OF THE WT AND BALANCE INDICATED AN OVERWEIGHT AIRCRAFT WITH AN AFT CENTER OF GRAVITY CONDITION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_BFO90FA036.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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