NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX89LA088
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
POOR PREFLIGHT PLANNING AND PREPARATION BY SELECTING THE WRONG RUNWAY DESPITE NOTAM AND ATIS INFORMATION INDICATING THE RUNWAY WAS CLOSED.
Factual narrative
DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL, THE AIRLANE COLLIDED WITH A GENERATOR THAT WAS POSITIONED ON THE RUNWAY TO ILLUMINATE AN X INDICATING THAT THE RUNWAY WAS CLOSED. THE PILOT DID NOT REALIZE THAT THE RUNWAY WAS CLOSED EVEN AFTER LISTENING TO AN ATIS MESSAGE STATING THAT THE RUNWAY WAS CLOSED. A NOTAM WAS IN EFFECT REPORTING THE SAME. THE PILOT SAID HE HEARD WHAT HE EXPECTED TO HEAR WHEN HE 'LISTENED' TO THE ATIS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_LAX89LA088.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.