CHI89DEV05
1989-02-25 · SPARTA, Illinois, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport SAR
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
POOR AND IMPROPER MAINTENANCE WHICH RESULTED IN THE CARBURETOR VENTURI BEING BLOCKED BY THE DUCT TAPE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE SOFT TERRAIN ON WHICH THE FORCED LANDING WAS MADE.
Factual narrative
ACCIDENT AIRPLANE WAS BEING USED FOR SPORT PARACHUTE ACTIVITY WHEN ENGINE FAILED DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB OF A JUMP SORTIE. THE PIC INSTRUCTED HIS FOUR SKYDIVER PASSENGERS TO ASSUME A CRASH POSITION AND ACCOMPLISHED AN OFF AIRPORT LANDING IN A SOFT FIELD. DURING THE LANDING ROLL THE NOSE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED. POST ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED A PIECE OF DUCT TAPE OBSTRUCTING THE CARBURETOR VENTURI RESTRICTING AIRFLOW TO THE ENGINE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_CHI89DEV05.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 (maintenance). All research papers
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- Semantic Scholar 2025 · Article (Applied Sciences) Decision-Making Framework for Aviation Safety in Predictive Maintenance Strategies
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- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (Defence Science Journal) Modelling of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Using HFACS ME Human Factors Analysis and Classification System Maintenance Extension and Bayesian Network
Aircraft maintenance is a complex task involving a skilled human workforce, spare parts, and various other resources. Human factors are an inherent element of the human workforce.
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In the field of aviation, safety is a critical cornerstone, and the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems is deeply connected with this principle.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) Low-Resource Automatic Speech Recognition Domain Adaptation – A Case-Study in Aviation Maintenance
With timeliness and efficiency being critical in the aviation maintenance industry, the need has been growing for smart technological solutions that optimize and streamline the different underlying ta…