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CHI90FA056

1989-12-28 · MERRILL, Wisconsin, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RRL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN PROPER ALIGNMENT WITH THE RUNWAY DURING HIS LANDING ROLL AND AN INFLIGHT ENCOUNTER WITH ICING CONDITIONS.

Factual narrative

THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A SNOWBANK DURING AN ATTEMPTED LANDING. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, HE ENCOUNTERED FREEZING RAIN AFTER BREAKING OUT OF THE CLOUDS AT APPROXIMATELY 1000 FEET AGL DURING HIS INSTRUMENT APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT. HE STATED THAT ICE ACCUMULATED ON THE WINDSHIELD FASTER THAN THE DEICERS COULD REMOVE IT AND HE WAS FORCED TO MAKE HIS APPROACH TO THE RUNWAY WITH NO FORWARD VISIBILITY. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN TO THE LEFT OF CENTERLINE ON THE 75 FOOT WIDE RUNWAY AND THE AIRPLANE DRIFTED LEFT UNTIL THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR COLLIDED WITH A SNOWBANK ON THE EDGE OF THE RUNWAY. THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR AND THE NOSE LANDING GEAR THEN FAILED AND THE AIRPLANE SLID TO A STOP. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_CHI90FA056.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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