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DEN90LA086

1990-04-03 · MORGAN, Utah, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 42U

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

SEPARATION OF THE TOW ROPE AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ESTABLISH AN APPROPRIATE DESCENT RATE AS HE RETURNED TO LAND. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE TAILWIND AND THE UNSUITABLE TERRAIN FOR LANDING BEYOND THE RUNWAY END.

Factual narrative

THE PRIVATE PILOT WITH SOLO ENDORSEMENT FOR GLIDERS, REPORTED THAT THE TOW LINE BROKE AT 650 FEET AGL DURING INITIAL CLIMB. HE ELECTED TO RETURN FOR A DOWNWIND LANDING BUT OVERSHOT THE RUNWAY. HE PLANNED AN APPROACH TO ROUGH TERRAIN OFF THE AIRPORT. DURING TOUCHDOWN FLARE, THE RIGHT WING STRUCK A TREE AND THE PLANE SLEWED TO THE RIGHT, STRUCK A DIRT EMBANKMENT, AND CAME TO REST WITH THE TAIL ON A FENCE. THE RIGHT WING WAS BROKEN SEVEN FEET FROM THE TIP, THE NOSE CONE WAS CRUSHED, AND THE ELEVATORS AND FUSELAGE WERE BENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90LA086.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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