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CHI90LA115

1990-04-20 · MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MKE

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE UTILIZATION OF IMPROPER PROCEDURES ON THE PART OF THE PILOT IN COMMAND BY ATTEMPTING TO EXECUTE A COUPLED APPROACH OUTSIDE THE PARAMETERS OF THE AUTOPILOT.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT ENGAGED THE AUTOPILOT APPROACH MODE TO EXECUTE A COUPLED ILS APPROACH WHILE HE WAS HIGH AND FAST WITH A 2000 FOOT PER MINUTE RATE OF DESCENT. THIS WAS OUTSIDE THE PARAMETERS FOR A STABILIZED APPROACH. WHEN THE AUTOPILOT CAPTURED THE GLIDE SLOPE, THE AIRCRAFT NOSED OVER SHARPLY, FLEW THROUGH THE GLIDE SLOPE, PULLED UP SHARPLY, FLEW THROUGH THE GLIDE SLOPE GOING UP, AND NOSED OVER AGAIN BEFORE THE PILOT COULD DISENGAGE THE AUTOPILOT. PILOT LANDED THE AIRCRAFT WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT, BUT THE PITCH EXCURSIONS HAD EXCEEDED THE STRESS LIMITS OF THE AIRCRAFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI90LA115.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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