CHI91DER10
1991-06-29 · STAPLES, Minnesota, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport SAZ
N503BP has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PETERSON BILL KOLB FIRESTAR, built 2005), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE DISCONNECTED ELEVATOR TRIM CABLE. RELATED FACTORS ARE THE INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE/INSTALLATION, AND THE PILOT'S INABILITY TO MAINTAIN AIRCRAFT CONTROL.
Factual narrative
WITNESSES REPORTED THEY WATCHED THE ULTRALIGHT TAKE OFF AND NOTED THE ELEVATOR OSCILLATING RAPIDLY, 'FLUTTERING.' THEY STATED THE AIRCRAFT CLIMBED TO ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND (AGL), THEN THE PILOT BEGAN A TURN BACK TOWARD THE AIRPORT. ACCORDING TO ONE WITNESS: 'THE AIRPLANE STALLED, WENT INTO A SPIN AND CRASHED.' THE ULTRALIGHT IMPACTED TERRAIN IN A MARSHY AREA LESS THAN ONE MILE FROM THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT. POST ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE TRIM TAB CONTROL CABLE HAD UNSPOOLED FROM THE TRIM TAB WHEEL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_CHI91DER10.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, maintenance). All research papers
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper The Value of Strong Partnerships to Build a Successful Aviation Maintenance Career Pathway Program for Transitioning Military Service Members
The aerospace industry is competing with other industries for a qualified workforce, and many of those competing industries are investing heavily in creating workforce development pipelines.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2026 · Journal article (IJAAA) From Reactive to Predictive: A hybrid Trust-Mediated Adoption Framework for Data-Driven Maintenance in Distributed-Authority Aviation Environments
Modern aviation maintenance operates within increasingly data-intensive technological environments, yet the operational integration of predictive maintenance into routine decision-making remains incon…
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- Semantic Scholar 2026 · Article (Reliability Engineering & System Safety) Understanding human error in military aviation maintenance: The role of Performance shaping factors, cognitive workload and error orientation
- Semantic Scholar 2025 · Article (Applied Sciences) Decision-Making Framework for Aviation Safety in Predictive Maintenance Strategies
The implementation of predictive maintenance (PM) in aviation presents unique challenges due to strict safety requirements, complex operational environments, and regulatory constraints.
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (Defence Science Journal) Modelling of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Using HFACS ME Human Factors Analysis and Classification System Maintenance Extension and Bayesian Network
Aircraft maintenance is a complex task involving a skilled human workforce, spare parts, and various other resources. Human factors are an inherent element of the human workforce.