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DEN89FA141

1989-06-19 · SOUTH LAKE TAHO, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport TVL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FALURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED AFTER TAKEOFF DUE TO DIVERTED ATTENTION TOWARD AN OPEN ACFT DOOR.

Factual narrative

THE PLT ABORTED THE FIRST TAKEOFF ATTEMPT DUE TO THE DOOR OPENING. ON THE SECOND ATTEMPT THE ACFT CLIMBED TO APRX 300 FT, TURNED 90 DEGS LEFT THEN BACK TO THE RWY HEADING. THE NOSE DESCENDED AND THE ACFT IMPACTED A FIELD IN A VERTICAL DIVE. FIRE BEGAN APX 15 SECONDS FOLLOWING IMPACT AND THE ACFT WAS CONSUMED BY FIRE. EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THE CABIN DOOR TO HAVE SEPARATED FROM THE ACFT AT IMPACT AND THE TOP LATCH, A 'J' HOOK, WAS FRACTURED AND MISSING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_DEN89FA141.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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