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FTW90LA064

1990-02-04 · ROANOKE, Texas, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 52F

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PARTIAL POWER LOSS DUE TO A FAILED EXHAUST VALVE AND THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE SPEED DURING THE PRECAUTIONARY LANDING APPROACH.

Factual narrative

THE AIRPLANE WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED WHEN IT COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND AFTER THE PILOT STALLED IT AND LOST CONTROL DURING A PRECUATIONARY LANDING FOLLOWING A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER DUE TO A FAILURE OF THE #4 EXHAUST VALVE. INITIALLY THE PILOT WAS GOING TO MAKE A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING AT A NEARBY AIRPORT, HOWEVER, WHEN HE TURNED FINAL HE SAW THAT HE HAD OPPOSING TRAFFIC. HE TURNED AWAY FROM THE FINAL APPROACH COURSE AND ENCOUNTERED HIGH TENSION LINES THAT HE COULD NOT CLEAR. THE PILOT THEN TURNED BACK TOWARD THE AIRPORT. DURING THE SECOND TURN, THE AIRPLANE STALLED AND IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. DUE TO SMEARING OF THE FRACTURE SURFACES THE ORIGIN OF THE FAILURE OF THE VALVE COULD NOT BE DETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_FTW90LA064.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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