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DEN91LA023

1990-11-25 · CLIFTON, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 7F7

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS WERE: TAILWIND, WRONG RUNWAY SELECTED, AND FAILURE TO RAISE FLAPS.

Factual narrative

THE STUDENT PILOT HAD BEEN FLYING ON A SOLO CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT WHEN HE BECAME LOST AND LANDED AT THE NEAREST AIRPORT TO FIND OUT WHERE HE WAS. WITNESSES STATED THAT THE PILOT DID NOT REFUEL AND WENT OUT TO HIS AIRCRAFT IN A HURRY. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TAKING OFF DOWNWIND WITH FULL FLAPS. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED MAKING A STEEP LEFT BANK AND THEN THE NOSE SUDDENLY DROPPED. THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A STEEP NOSE LOW ATTITUDE AND CAME TO REST UPSIDE DOWN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN91LA023.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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