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LAX87LA165

1987-03-31 · GRAND CANYON, Arizona, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GCN

N9026B has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (RANS RANS S-7, built 1999), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PLT SAID THAT ON SHORT FINAL THE ACFT BEGAN TO DRIFT OFF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RWY AND CONTROL INPUTS TO CORRECT THE DRIFT HAD NO EFFECT. THE PLT ADDED PWR TO INITIATE A GO AROUND AND HE SAID THAT THE 'AIRSPEED SUDDENLY DROPPED TO 40 AND WE WERE IN A STALL CONDITION' THEN THE ACFT SEEMED TO 'MUSH WITH NO CONTROL UNTIL (IT) CONTACTED THE GROUND.' THE ATCT CONTROLLERS SAID THE ACFT WAS ABOUT 1,500 FT DOWN THE RWY WHEN IT WAS SEEN TO INITIATE A GO-AROUND AND PITCH NOSE UP STEEPLY THEN DESCEND RAPIDLY TO THE GROUND OFF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RWY. AN FAA INSP WAS FLYING AN ACFT IN THE PATTERN AND NOTED THAT A SLIGHT SHEAR EXISTED BUT ONLY PRODUCED A MINOR SINK RATE. THE PLT'S FLT TIME CONSISTED OF 2,500 HRS IN BALLOONS WITH ABOUT 180 IN AIRPLANES. NO AIRPLANE FLT TIME WAS FLOWN IN THE PREVIOUS 4 YRS PRIOR TO MARCH OF 1987 WHEN HE PURCHASED THE ACFT AND FLEW IT APPROX 6 HRS BFR THE ACCD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_LAX87LA165.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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