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CHI93LA025

1992-11-04 · AMES, Iowa, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AMW

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT EXCEEDED THE AIRCRAFT'S MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT LIMITATION WHICH RESULTED IN THE FAILURE TO OBTAIN A PROPER CLIMB RATE AFTER TAKEOFF.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT AFTER TAKEOFF AT AN ALTITUDE OF APRX 200 FT, THE AIRSPEED BEGAN TO DECREASE AND THE ENGINE RPM BEGAN TO 'WIND DOWN.' A WITNESS STATED THE AIRPLANE DID NOT ROTATE DURING THE TAKEOFF UNTIL IT WAS 3/4 TO 7/8 THE WAY DOWN THE RUNWAY. JUST PRIOR TO THE HEARING THE IMPACT, HE STATED HE SAW THE AIRPLANE AT AN ALTITUDE OF APRX 50 FT AGL. POST ACCIDENT INSPECTION FAILED TO DISCLOSE ANY MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. WEIGHT AND BALANCE CALCULATIONS REVEALED THE AIRPLANE WAS APRX 178 POUNDS OVER ITS MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_CHI93LA025.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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