CHI85LA046
1984-11-11 · BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport BMG
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
PLT STATED THAT WHILE IN CRUISE FLT, THE ACFT NOSE PITCHED DOWN ABRUPTLY. PLT DISENGAGED THE AUTOPILOT AND NOTED VACUUM SYSTEM WAS INOPERATIVE. FLT CONTINUED ON MANUAL CONTROL WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT UNTIL LATE FINAL APPROACH AT DESTINATION. WHEN FLAPS WERE LOWERED, NOSE AGAIN PITCHED DOWN AND LEFT WING CONTACTED AN APPROACH LIGHT. PLT REGAINED CONTROL AND LANDED SUCCESSFULLY. AFTER THE LNDG IT WAS NOTICED THE AUTOPILOT SWITCH WAS ENGAGED. VACUUM PUMP FAILURE DUE TO NORMAL WEAR. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1984_CHI85LA046.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (autopilot). All research papers
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