NTSB CHI90LA094 — 1990-03-03 · WONDER LAKE, Illinois, United States

Current FAA registration · N55030

Make / Model: PIPER PA-28R-200
Year of manufacture: 1973 · 17 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19730224
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A70245

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N55030 Piper PA-28R-200 None

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE COMPENSATION FOR WIND CONDITIONS, AND HIS FAIIURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER ALTITUDE ON FINAL APPROACH TO LAND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE TREES & SNOWBANK.

Factual narrative

THE PLT RPRTD THAT WHILE ON FINAL APCH TO LAND ON RWY 27, THE ACFT ENCOUNTERED A GUST OF WIND. IT THEN LOST ALT, CONTACTED TREES SHORT OF THE RWY & YAWED TO THE LEFT. THE PLT REALIGNED THE ACFT WITH THE RWY, BUT AFTER TOUCHDOWN, IT VEERED LEFT & HIT A SNOWBANK. A POST-ACDNT EXAM REVEALED THE LEFT MAIN GEAR & LEFT WING WERE DAMAGED DURING THE OCCURRENCE. ABOUT 20 MI SOUTH AT DUPAGE, IL, THE 1550 CST WIND WAS FROM 330 DEG AT 11 KTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI90LA094.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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