FTW90LA087
1990-03-27 · UVALDE, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport UVA
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
IMPROPER IFR PROCEDURE BY THE PILOT BY NOT MAINTAINING THE MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (MDA) FOR THAT SEGMENT OF THE APPROACH. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, LOW CEILING, FOG, AND RAIN.
Factual narrative
THE PILOTS WERE MAKING AN NDB APPROACH TO AN UNCONTROLLED AIRPORT THAT WAS 941 FEET MSL. THE NDB WAS 1.8 NM FROM THE AIRPORT, AND THE PILOTS WERE SUPPOSED TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (MDA) OF 1,540 FEET UNTIL THE RUNWAY WAS IN SIGHT. PRIOR TO THE CRASH, ATC HAD TOLD THEM THAT THEY WERE 15 MILES FROM THE AIRPORT. APPROXIMATELY FOUR MILES FROM THE AIRPORT, THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE TOP OF A HILL, AT A POINT 990 FEET MSL. THE AIRPLANE WAS DEMOLISHED BY IMPACT AND POST-IMPACT FIRE. THE WEATHER WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 300 FEET OVERCAST AND ONE MILE VISIBILITY. NO MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS WERE REPORTED OR DISCOVERED. THE LACK OF A LOCAL ALTIMETER SETTING INCREASED THE MDA BY 240 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_FTW90LA087.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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