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Atlas / NTSB / FTW83LA109

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW83LA109

1983-02-11 HOUSTON, Texas, United States Airport · HOU None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PLT REPORTED THAT AFTER THE NOSEWHEEL TOUCHED DOWN, IT BEGAN A VIOLENT & UNCONTROLLABLE OSCILLATION, THEN LOCKED APRX 25 DEG TO THE LEFT. THE ACFT VEERED OFF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY, CROSSED AN AREA OF SOFT GROUND AND ANGLED ACROSS A TAXIWAY. AFTER CROSSING THE TAXIWAY, IT ENTERED ANOTHER AREA OF SOFT DIRT WHERE THE NOSE GEAR SEPARATED. AFTER COMING TO REST, THE PROPELLERS DUG HOLES IN THE SOFT GROUND BEFORE THE ENGINES WERE SHUT DOWN. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE TIRES LEFT BLACK SCRUB MARKS (800 FT LONG) BEFORE THE ACFT DEPARTED THE RUNWAY. LOW AIR PRESSURE WAS FOUND IN THE NOSE GEAR STRUT AND SHIMMY DAMPER. ACCORDING TO A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE MANUFACTURER, THIS LOW PRESSURE COULD CAUSE THE NOSE GEAR TO SHIMMY. PROPELLER STRIKE MARKS IN THE FIRST AREA OF SOFT GROUND INDICATED THE GROUND SPEED WAS 82 KTS WHERE THEY FIRST CONTACTED THE GROUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_FTW83LA109.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.