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CHI90FA066

1990-01-16 · MOSINEE, Wisconsin, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CWA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT DISREGARDING THE PUBLISHED DECISION HEIGHT AND NOT PERFORMING A MISSED APPROACH.

Factual narrative

THE ON-DEMAND AIR TAXI AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TREES AND TERRAIN DURING A THIRD ATTEMPT AT AN ILS APPROACH. THE AIRPLANE CRASHED APPROXIMATELY TWO MILES BEYOND THE AIRPORT ON THE EXTENDED CENTERLINE OF THE LANDING RUNWAY. IN AN INTERVIEW THE PILOT RELATED THAT ON HIS FIRST APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT HE SAW THE RUNWAY AND OBSERVED VEHICLES ON THE TAXIWAY AS HE PERFORMED HIS MISSED APPROACH. WHEN HE WAS ASKED THE REASON FOR THE SECOND MISSED APPROACH HE SAID IT WAS BECAUSE OF INSTRUMENT FLUCTUATIONS ON HIS COURSE DIRECTION INDICATOR. DURING THIS PERIOD HE ASKED THAT THE LIGHTS BE SET TO HIGH INTENSITY BECAUSE HE COULD NOT SEE THEM. THE LIGHTS WERE VERIFIED AS BEING SET FOR HIGH INTENSITY. HE DID NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING OF THE THIRD APPROACH AFTER HE PASSED THE OUTER MARKER. SNOW REMOVAL OPERATIONS WERE IN PROGRESS DURING THE PERIOD THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE WAS MAKING APPROACHES TO THE AIRPORT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI90FA066.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.