NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX87FA281
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
LOSS OF CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT, BY THE PILOT, WHILE EXCUTING A MISSED APPROACH.
Factual narrative
THE AIRCRAFT WAS RADAR VECTORED TO THE FINAL APPROACH FOR AN ILS LANDING. AS THE AIRCRAFT APPROACHED THE FINAL APPROACH FIX THE CONTROLLER CLEARED THE AIRCRAFT FOR THE APPROACH AND INSTRUCTED THE PILOT TO CONTACT THE TOWER. THE PILOT ACKNOWLEDGED THE INSTRUCTION THEN STATED THAT HE WAS STARTING A GO-AROUND. APPROXIMATELY 30 SECONDS LATER THERE WAS AN UNINTELLIGIBLE RADIO TRANSMISSION FROM THE AIRCRAFT. THIS TRANSMISSION WAS FOLLOWED BY A CALL FROM THE PILOT STATING, 'SEVEN NINER THREE IN TROUBLE'. THIS TRANSMISSION WAS FOLLOWED 16 SECONDS LATER BY, 'I HAVE I HAVE AN EMERGENCY BACK HERE'. THE CONTROLLER HAD NOTICED AN ASCENT 400 FEET ABOVE THE ASSIGNED ALTITUDE THEN THE RADAR WENT INTO COAST. A WITNESS IN A BOAT IN THE VICINITY OF THE ACCIDENT OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT DIVE OUT OF A CLOUD AND COLLIDE WITH THE WATER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1987_LAX87FA281.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control, go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- 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…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- 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.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper
Utilizing Deep Learning to Predict Unstabilized Approaches for General Aviation Aircraft
Unstabilized approaches pose a major hazard for general aviation aircraft. In the period from 2009 to 2019, 3,257 general aviation accidents occurred during the landing phase of flight in which loss o…
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
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