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CHI92FA142

1992-05-10 · HARVARD, Illinois, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 0C0

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB OUT. A RELATED FACTOR IS THE PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT/AIRPLANE CO-OWNER DEPARTED FOR A LOCAL FLIGHT WITH ONE OF HIS BROTHERS AS A PASSENGER. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE IN A STEEP, SPIRALING DESCENT INTO THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE GROUND IN AN OPEN FIELD LESS THAN ONE MILE FROM THE AIRPORT. POST-ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF PRE-IMPACT MALFUNCTION. THE AIRPLANE HAD OPERATED 13 HOURS SINCE THE MOST RECENT ANNUAL INSPECTION WHICH WAS COMPLETED ABOUT 7 1/2 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. A SURVIVING BROTHER/AIRPLANE CO-OWNER REPORTED NEITHER THE AIRPLANE NOR THE PILOT HAD FLOWN FOR ABOUT 4 1/2 MONTHS BEFORE THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT. THE FUEL TANKS CONTAINED A COMBINATION OF 80 OCTANE AVIATION FUEL AND AUTOMOBILE GASOLINE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_CHI92FA142.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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