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Atlas / NTSB / FTW88DPJ13

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW88DPJ13

1988-09-24 ARDMORE, Oklahoma, United States Airport · 1FO Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

IMMEDIATELY AFTER LIFTOFF, THE AIRPLANE ABRUPTLY TURNED LEFT, NOSED DOWN, AND STRUCK THE GROUND. EXAMINATION OF THE ELECTRICAL PITCH CONTROL OF THE PROPELLER REVEALED THE PROPELLER BLADES TO BE IN THE HIGH PITCH, LOW RPM POSITION. DUE TO EXTREME DAMAGE OF THE SYSTEM, IT COULD NOT BE DETERMINED WHY THE PROPELLER PITCH HAD CHANGED ON TAKEOFF. NEITHER THE PLT NOR PAX COULD REMEMBER THE ACC. WITNESSES STATED THAT THE PROP NOISE CHANGED AFTER TAKEOFF AND THE ACFT GAINED VERY LITTLE ALT PRIOR TO THE LEFT TURN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_FTW88DPJ13.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.