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CHI89DET04

1989-04-15 · BLUFFTON, Indiana, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport C40

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADEQUATE AIRSPEED RESULTING IN A STALL/SPIN BY THE PILOT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: A TAILWIND AND WRONG RUNWAY SELECTED BY THE PILOT.

Factual narrative

WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING THE PILOT ATTEMPT TO LAND ON RUNWAY 27. THE LANDING WAS ABORTED. DURING THE CLIMB OUT, THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO ENTER A STEEP CLIMBING RIGHT TURN. DURING THE TURN, THE AIRPLANE STALLED AND DESCENDED TO IMPACT WITH THE TERRAIN. WITNESSES REPORTED THAT A TAIL WIND EXISTED FOR RUNWAY 27. THE PILOT OF ANOTHER AIRPLANE WHICH WAS ACCOMPANYING N9479L DURING ITS FLIGHT STATED HE INFORMED THE ACCIDENT PILOT OF THE TAILWIND CONDITION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_CHI89DET04.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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