NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA90MA011
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE FLIGHTCREW'S DECISION TO CONTINUE AN UNSTABILIZED INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM (ILS) APPROACH THAT LED TO A STALL, MOST LIKELY OF THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZER, AND LOSS OF CONTROL AT LOW ALTITUDE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER'S IMPROPER VECTORS THAT POSITIONED THE AIRPLANE INSIDE THE OUTER MARKER WHILE IT WAS STILL WELL ABOVE THE GLIDESLOPE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE STALL AND LOSS OF CONTROL WAS THE ACCUMULATION OF AIRFRAME ICE THAT DEGRADED THE AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE AIRPLANE.
Factual narrative
DURING ARRIVAL FOR AN ILS RWY 21R APCH, THE ACFT ENCTRD ICING CONDS FOR ABOUT 9-1/2 MIN. AS THE ACFT WAS VECTORED FOR THE APCH, THE SEATTLE ARTCC CTLR USED AN EXPANDED RADAR RANGE & DID NOT PROVIDE PRECISE PSNG OF THE ACFT TO THE FINAL APCH COURSE. THE FLT CREW ATMTD TO CONT ON A STEEP, UNSTABILIZED APCH FOR A LNDG. RECORDED RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT THE ACFT WAS WELL TO THE RGT OF THE ILS COURSE LINE & WELL ABOVE THE GLIDE SLOPE AS IT PASSED THE OUTER MARKER/FINAL APCH FIX (FAF). IT DID NOT INTERCEPT THE LOCALIZER COURSE UNTIL IT WAS ABT 1.5 MI INSIDE THE FAF. ALSO, IT WAS STILL WELL ABOVE THE ILS GLIDE SLOPE WERE RECORDED ALT DATA WAS LOST WHEN THE ACFT WAS ABT 2.5 MI FM THE ARPT. THE TWR HAD CLOSED, BUT THE CTLR SAW THE ACFT IN A HIGHER THAN NORMAL RATE OF DSCNT IN A WINGS LEVEL ATTITUDE. BFR RCHG THE RWY, THE ACFT NOSED OVER & CRASHED IN A STEEP DSCNT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT ICE HAD ACCUMULATED ON THE AIRFRAME, INCLUDING THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZERS, WHICH MAY HAVE RESULTED IN A TAIL PLANE STALL. (SEE: NTSB/AAR-91/06) Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_DCA90MA011.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, stall, loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Simulation Modeling Requirements for Loss-of-Control Accident Prevention of Turboprop Transport Aircraft
In-flight loss of control remains the leading contributor to aviation accident fatalities, with stall upsets being the leading causal factor. The February 12, 2009.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
An Evaluation of an Analytical Simulation of an Airplane with Tailplane Icing by Comparison to Flight Data
This report presents the assessment of an analytical tool developed as part of the NASA/FAA Tailplane Icing Program. The analytical tool is a specialized simulation program called TAILSM4 which was de…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Publication (TP)
NASA/FAA Tailplane Icing Program: Flight Test Report
This report presents results from research flights that explored the characteristics of an ice-contaminated tailplane using various simulated ice shapes attached to the leading edge of the horizontal …
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