NTSB CHI82FA144 — 1982-05-01 · BOWLING GREEN, Ohio, United States

N40999 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (FLYNN STEVE INC/DBA CTL FL FLR ARROWTUG, built 1995), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N40999 Piper PA-28-140 Fatal

Factual narrative

THE PILOT STARTED HIS TAKEOFF WITH THE AIRCRAFT ABOUT 198 LBS OVER ITS MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT LIMIT. THE PLANE WAS OBSERVED TO LIFT OFF NEAR THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY, THEN CONTINUE IN A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE. SOME WITNESSES OBSERVED THE WINGS ROCKING OR WOBBLING AND/OR THE FUSELAGE FISHTAILING. REPORTEDLY, IT GAINED SOME ALTITUDE, THEN SETTLED INTO AN APARTMENT BUILDING. DURING IMPACT, AN EXPLOSION OCCURRED AND THE AIRCRAFT AND BUILDING WERE ENGULFED IN FLAMES. ALL BUT 1 WITNESS REPORTED THAT THE ENGINE SOUNDED NORMAL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_CHI82FA144.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.