CHI90FA003
1989-10-07 · ANN ARBOR, Michigan, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport ARB
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE AIRCRAFT.
Factual narrative
ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE ACFT WAS IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN ON A TURN FROM DOWNWIND TO BASE, WHEN IT SUDDENLY DESCENDED INTO THE GROUND & CRASHED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENG WAS FOUND. AN EXAM OF THE STALL WARNING LIGHT BULB REVEALED THE FILAMENT HAD STRETCHED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_CHI90FA003.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 (stall). All research papers
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- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER) Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…