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CHI89DEP01

1989-01-25 · GREEN BAY, Wisconsin, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GRB

N6CF has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (MCCLANAHAN HOMER W LONG-EZ, built 1983), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL, DUE TO THE LOSS OF COCKPIT/INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING FOR AN UNDETERMINED REASON, THE INOPERATIVE PENLIGHT, AND SUBSEQUENT SPATIAL DISORIENTATION OF THE PILOT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS AND THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

Factual narrative

DURING A FLT AT NGT, THE PLT RPRTD HE HAD LOST INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING, BUT THAT HE HAD A FLASHLIGHT. ABOUT 14 MIN LATER, HE RPRTD HE DID NOT HAVE ANY LIGHTS IN THE CABIN & THAT HE WAS CHANGING FLASHLIGHTS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHED ABOUT 1/2 MI SOUTH OF THE ARPT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT IT HAD IMPACTED, WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEED. THE ELEC SYS WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED BY IMPACT, BREAKERS WERE DESTROYED OR POPPED & THE LIGHT RHEOSTAT SW WAS DAMAGED DURING THE OCCURRENCE. A PENLIGHT WAS FOUND IN THE WRECKAGE WITH DEAD 'AA' BATTERIES. A 2-CELL 'D' FLASHLIGHT WAS FOUND IN A POCKET ATTACHED TO THE REAR OF THE LEFT FRONT SEAT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_CHI89DEP01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (spatial disorientation). All research papers