Skip to content

CHI92LA042

1991-12-23 · FARGO, North Dakota, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FAR

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER INTERPRETATION OF INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED BY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPECIALIST, AND THE PILOT'S POOR INFLIGHT PLANNING AND DECISION(S). FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACCIDENT ARE THE CONFUSING COMMUNICATIONS BY THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPECIALIST, AND THE LACK OF EXPERIENCE BY THE PILOT IN THIS TYPE OF OPERATION.

Factual narrative

THE STUDENT PILOT INITIALLY REQUESTED A TOUCH AND GO LANDING AT A BUSY AIRPORT. THE CONTROLLER TOLD THE PILOT TO DO A FULL STOP ON THE RUNWAY AND SHE WOULD TELL THE PILOT WHEN TO DEPART. THE CONTROLLER SUBSEQUENTLY CLEARED AN AIRPLANE TO LAND BEHIND THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE ON THE SAME RUNWAY, AND CLEARED ANOTHER AIRPLANE FOR A LOW APPROACH ON A RUNWAY THAT INTERSECTED THE DEPARTURE END OF THE ACCIDENT RUNWAY. SHORTLY AFTER THE STUDENT PILOT TOUCHED DOWN, THE CONTROLLER CLEARED HER FOR A TOUCH AND GO. THE STUDENT PILOT ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER THE CONTROLLER, BUT FUMBLED THE RADIO MIC. SHE ELECTED TO DO A TOUCH AND GO BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN SO CLEARED BY THE CONTROLLER. SHE HAD INSUFFICIENT RUNWAY REMAINING TO BECOME AIRBORNE AND COLLIDED WITH A FENCE BEYOND THE END OF THE RUNWAY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_CHI92LA042.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type. All research papers