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DCA90MA055

1990-09-20 · MARANA, Arizona, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION BY THE PILOT, AND HIS FAILURE TO USE A CHECKLIST. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE FAA'S INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE OF THE OPERATION, THE FAA'S INSUFFICIENT STANDARDS/REQUIREMENTS, THE PILOT'S OPERATION OF THE AIRCRAFT WITH KNOWN DEFICIENCES, AND HIS LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE OF AIRCRAFT.

Factual narrative

WITNESSES RPRTD 1ST ATMT TO TKOF WAS ABORTED AFTER ACFT SWERVED LEFT & RGT. ON 2ND TRY, ACFT LIFTED OFF ABT HALFWAY DWN RWY. AFTER LIFT-OFF, IT ROLLED RGT, RGT WING HIT GND & ACFT CRASHED. INV REVEALED RUDDER TRIM WAS 7.9 TO 8.3 UNITS (79% TO 83%) NOSE RGT. SIMULATOR TESTS WITH THAT SETTING RESULTED IN CONSISTENT RGT WING COLLISIONS WITH GND AFTER LIFT-OFF. CREW'S CHECKLIST REFERRED TO MECH CHECKLIST FOR CRITICAL ITEMS TO CHECK BFR TKOF. MECH CHECKLIST & 50 OF 54 FLT INST HAD BEEN REMOVED FM ACFT, LEAVING 2 AIRSPEED INDCRS, ALTIMETER & STBY GYRO HORIZON. IN 60 SIMULATED TKOFS IN THIS CONFIGURATION, THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF INSUFFICIENT ATTITUDINAL REF TO RECOGNIZE ROLLING OF ACFT BFR SUFFICIENT ALT WAS ATTAINED. FAA'S DESIGNATED AIRWORTHINESS REP (DAR) HAD INSPD ACFT 3 DAYS BFR & ISSUED FERRY PERMIT. HE LACKED FAA MECH CERT & EXPERIENCE WITH LARGE ACFT. FAA ORDER 8000.62 & AC 183.33 LACKED SPEC GUIDANCE FOR SELECTION, TRNG & OVERSIGHT OF DAR ACTIVITY. ALSO, LACK OF GUIDANCE CONCERNING MIN EQUIP LIST. PLT NOT CURRENT OR MED QUALIFIED TO FLY ACFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DCA90MA055.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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