NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN89LA158
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE SPEED FOR THE TURNING MANEUVER (TO AVOID AN OBSTACLE) AND INADVERTENTLY ALLOWED THE AIRCRAFT TO STALL. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: IMPROPER UUSE OF THE FLAPS, HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, AND A HIGH OBSTRUCTION.
Factual narrative
AFTER MAKING A TOUCH-&-GO LANDING, THE PLT BEGAN A TAKEOFF WITH 10 DEG OF FLAPS. THE FLT MANUAL RCMDD TAKEOFFS BE MADE WITH THE FLAPS FULLY RETRACTED, EXCEPT FOR SHORT FIELD TAKEOFFS OR TAKEOFFS ON SOFT OR ROUGH FIELDS WITH NO OBSTACLES AHEAD. THE PLT STATED THAT AFTER CLIMBING TO ABOUT 300' AGL, HE NOTED THE ACFT WAS NOT CLIMBING PROPERLY & THAT THE ENG DID NOT SEEM TO BE PROVIDING FULL POWER. HE DID NOT CHECK THE ENG INSTRUMENTS TO VERIFY THE ENG PERFORMANCE. HE LOWERED THE NOSE TO ACCELERATE & STARTED A RIGHT TURN TO AVOID AN OBSTACLE. AT ABOUT THAT TIME, THE ACFT STALLED, THEN CRASHED BEFORE THE PILOT COULD RECOVER FROM A DESCENT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE ENG WAS DEVELOPING POWER AT IMPACT. A TEARDOWN OF THE ENG REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF A PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. DENSITY ALTITUDE AT THE ARPT WAS APRX 6500'. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_DEN89LA158.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
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 (stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- 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 2023 · arXiv preprint
Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- 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…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER)
Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…
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