FTW89LA068
1989-03-17 · GALVESTON, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport GLS
N5280R has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 172S, built 2002), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN A STALL AND LOSS OF CONTROL. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: THE WEATHER CONDITIONS, WHICH WERE BELOW MINIMUMS, AND FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO PERFORM A MISSED APPROACH.
Factual narrative
AFTER BEING CLRD FOR AN ILS RWY 13 APCH TO SCHOLES FIELD, THE ACFT CRASHED APRX 75 YDS NORTH OF THE RWY & CAME TO REST INVERTED ON A HDG OF 330 DEG. THERE WAS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE ENG & PROP, & THE FUSELAGE WAS BROKEN AFT OF THE COCKPIT, BUT THE WINGS & EMPENNAGE WERE RELATIVELY INTACT. ALTHO, BOTH OCCUPANTS SURVIVED THE ACDNT, THE PLT WAS UNABLE TO REMEMBER THE OCCURRENCE DUE TO HIS INJURIES. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE WX HAD BEEN VARIALBLE. AT 0656 CST, WHEN THE PLT 1ST CTCD HOUSTON APCH CTL, THE GALVESTON WX WAS IN PART: INDEFINITE CEILING, 100' OBSCD, VIS 3/16 MI WITH FOG. AT 0718, THE PLT WAS ADZD OF NEW WX WHICH WAS IN PART: SKY PARTIALLY OBSCD, 300' THIN SCATTERED, CEILING 800' OVC, VIS 3/4 MI WITH FOG. AT 0736, THE PLT WAS ADZD OF A SPCL WX OBS, WHICH WAS IN PART: SKY PARTIALLY OBSCD, 300' THIN SCATTERED, 800' OVC, VIS 3/16 MI WITH FOG. A SUBSEQUENT WX OBS (NOT AVAIL TO PLT WHEN HE WAS CLRD FOR THE APCH AT 0742) WAS IN PART: 300' OBSCD, VIS 1/16 MI WITH FOG. WX MINS FOR THE ILS APCH WERE: 200' CEILING & 1/2 MI VIS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_FTW89LA068.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, loss of control). All research papers
- Semantic Scholar 2016 · Article (Interacción) Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control
This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S).
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2010 · Accident report Loss of Control on Approach — Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air 3407 / Continental Connection (Q400) Buffalo NY, February 12, 2009 — 50 fatalities. Definitive investigation of the Colgan 3407 stall-stick-pusher crash on approach to Buffalo.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER) A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (International Conference on Networking and Services) Risk Assessment of Loss of Control In-Flight Trajectories for Urban Air Mobility Safety
In Urban Air Mobility (UAM), maintaining a minimum separation between aircraft is a safety requirement, which becomes challenging amidst congested air traffic and off-nominal conditions, such as Loss …