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DEN90LA006

1989-10-09 · LAS VEGAS, New Mexico, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LVS

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ABORT THE TAKEOFF, WHEN SHE FAILED TO ATTAIN SUFFICIENT SPEED WITHIN THE APPROPRIATE TAKEOFF DISTANCE. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE.

Factual narrative

THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING TAKEOFF FROM A 5000 FT LONG ASPHALT RUNWAY WITH CALM WIND AND 8800 FT DENSITY ALTITUDE. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TWO TAKEOFFS BUT ABORTED BOTH WHEN THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT REACH TAKEOFF SPEED. THE PILOT SAID THAT PRIOR TO THE FIRST ATTEMPT 'DURING RUNUP DETONATION OCCURRED SO I ENRICHED THE MIXTURE. THEN I APPLIED POWER FOR TAKEOFF - FULL POWER - MIXTURE CONTROL OUT ABOUT 2 INCHES.' THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT ACCELERATE PROPERLY SO SHE ABORTED. DURING THE SECOND TAKEOFF THE PILOT SAID SHE DID NOT ADVANCE THE THROTTLE ALL THE WAY. DESCRIBING THE THIRD ATTEMPT, THE PILOT SAID 'SPEED ON TAKE OFF ROLL IMPROVED - GOT UP TO 65 IAS - END OF RUNWAY CAME. PULLED OFF, STALL WARNING HORN, DROPPED NOSE - NO ADDED POWER - HIT THE GROUND & ROLLED THROUGH GRASS...' ACCORDING TO THE TAKEOFF CHART FOR THIS AIRCRAFT, THE TAKEOFF DISTANCE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT 2000 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_DEN90LA006.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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