NTSB CAROL · Event
Event FTW88MA047
Registry · N79SF
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
PIPER PA-28-181
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AAB742
Registrant of record
STERLING FLIGHT TRAINING LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE CREW WAS EXECUTING THE ILS APPROACH AND HAD TURNED BACK INBOUND ON THE PROCEDURE TURN TO THE OUTER MARKER WHEN THE CO-PILOT STATED THEY WERE 5.9 DME IN A CALM VOICE WITH NO INDICATION OF A PROBLEM. IMPACT WITH THE GROUND OCCURRED AT ABOUT 5.9 DME, APPROXIMATELY 10 STATUTE MILES FROM THE AIRPORT, WHILE THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN A SLIGHT NOSEUP, SLIGHT RIGHT WING DOWN ATTITUDE, WITH A HIGH VERTICAL RATE OF DESCENT, AND A HIGH FORWARD SPEED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DEMOLISHED. NO EVIDENCE OF A PRE-IMPACT FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE AIRCRAFT OR ITS SYSTEMS COULD BE FOUND. THE COPILOT WAS NOT RATED IN THE AIRCRAFT AND HAD LOGGED A TOTAL OF 7.9 HOURS OF JET TIME IN HIS PERSONAL LOGBOOK. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1988_FTW88MA047.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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