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DEN90FA104

1990-05-04 · ROSWELL, New Mexico, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ROW

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S PERFORMANCE OF AEROBATIC MANEUVERS THAT EXCEEDED THE DESIGN STRESS LIMITS OF THE AIRCRAFT, RESULTING IN CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE WING.

Factual narrative

ACFT WAS ON PROMOTIONAL FLIGHT FOR MEDIA PERSONNEL THE DAY BEFORE 'SPECTACULAR AIR SHOW' WAS SCHEDULED TO OPEN. PAX WAS LOCAL RADIO STATION MANAGER AND NEWLY RATED PRIVATE PLT, WHO TOLD GROUND CREW HE HOPED THE PILOT WOULD DEMONSTRATE AEROBATICS. WITNESSES SAW ACFT PERFORMING AEROBATICS 7 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF. ACFT IMPACTED DESERT TERRAIN AND EXPLODED. BOTH TIP TANKS, OUTBOARD WING PANELS, AND AILERONS WERE FOUND APPROXIMATELY 1-1/4 MILE FROM MAIN IMPACT AREA. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION DISCLOSED CATASTROPHIC WING SPAR FAILURE DUE TO NEGATIVE BENDING OVERLOAD. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF AT LEAST ONE OVER-TRAVEL UP AND ONE OVER-TRAVEL DOWN OF BOTH AILERONS. NO PRE-EXISTING OR FATIGUE CRACKS, OR EVIDENCE OF AILERON FLUTTER WAS FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90FA104.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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