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LAX89FA239

1989-07-14 · SOMERTON, Arizona, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport YUM

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN A STALL. THE LACK OF ALTITUDE FOR RECOVERY WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Factual narrative

A CHRISTEN INDUSTRIES HUSKY A-1 OPERATED BY THE US BORDER PATROL AS A PUBLIC USE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH FLAT DESERT TERRAIN. THE PILOT WAS VISUALLY TRACKING FOOTPRINTS NEAR THE US-MEXICAN BORDER. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED ORBITING AT A LOW ALTITUDE SHORTLY BEFORE ENTERING A STEEP TURN DURING WHICH THE NOSE PITCHED DOWN. THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE & A POST IMPACT FIRE ERUPTED. THE FLAPS WERE DETERMINED TO BE IN THE 20 DEG SETTING. THE REAR SEAT BACK ASSEMBLY WAS DETERMINED TO BE UNLATCHED AT THE TIME OF IMPACT, THE AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL HAD PERFORMANCE INFORMATION CONCERNING STALL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AIRPLANE. THE MANUAL INDICATED AN ALTITUDE LOSS OF 150 FT DURING POWER OFF STALLS. THE AIRCRAFT FLIGHT MANUAL INDICATED THE USE OF 30 DEG FLAPS FOR ALL FLIGHT MANEUVERS REQUIRING FLAPS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89FA239.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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