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CHI89LA076

1989-04-23 · LANSING, Michigan, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LAN

N455RT has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 7GCAA, built 2000), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL DURING THE LANDING ROLL, AND HIS EXCESSIVE BRAKE APPLICATION AS THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED THE RUNWAY, WHICH RESULTED IN THE AIRCRAFT NOSING OVER. THE PILOT'S INEXPERIENCE IN TAILDRAGGER AIRCRAFT, AND THE INADEQUATE SUPERVISION ON THE PART OF THE CHECK PILOT WERE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.

Factual narrative

WHILE ON AN AIRCRAFT FAMILIARIZATION FLIGHT, DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND ALLOWED THE AIRCRAFT TO DRIFT TO THE LEFT AND DEPART THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY. AS THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED THE RUNWAY, THE PILOT APPLIED BOTH BRAKES 'HARD', AND THE AIRCRAFT NOSED OVER IN THE GRASS. THE CHECK PILOT IN THE FRONT SEAT HAD NO ACCESS TO BRAKE PEDALS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_CHI89LA076.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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