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LAX89LA254

1989-07-31 · OCEANSIDE, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L32

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND TO ATTAIN PROPER AIRSPEED DURING THE GO-AROUND. THE LACK OF AIRSPEED DID NOT PERMIT THE AIRPLANE TO CLIMB AND THE PILOT INTENTIONALLY STALLED THE AIRPLANE INTO THE TREES. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT DELAYING THE GO-AROUND AFTER HE MISJUDGED THE TOUCHDOWN POINT.

Factual narrative

A WITNESS INDICATED THE AIRPLANE WAS ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN THE RUNWAY WHEN THE PILOT INITIATED A GO-AROUND. HE SAID THE FLAPS APPEARED TO BE IN THE FULL UP POSITION, AND THE NOSE WAS VERY HIGH AND THE AIRPLANE APPEARED TO BE MUSHING. THE PILOT STATED HE HAD FULL THROTTLE BUT THE AIRPLANE WOULD NOT CLIMB. HE SAID THAT WHEN HE REALIZED HE WAS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CLIMB OVER THE TREES, HE PULLED THE POWER OFF AND STALLED THE AIRPLANE INTO THE BUSHES AND TREES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA254.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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