Skip to content

LAX89LA263

1989-08-04 · LANCASTER, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GWF

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO FOLLOW ESTABLISHED PROCEDURES IN RESTARTING THE ENGINE THAT DRIVES THE HYDRUALIC PUMP AND HIS FAILURE TO FOLLOW PUBLISHED EMERGENCY LANDING GEAR EXTENSION PROCEDURES. THE PILOT'S DECISION TO SHUT DOWN AN ENGINE AND FEATHER THE PROPELLER BEFORE ASSURING HIMSELF THAT THE PROPELLER WOULD UNFEATHER AND HIS INADEQUATE TRAINING IN EMERGENCY PROCEDURES WERE FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT.

Factual narrative

AFTER COMPLETION OF AN ANNUAL INSPECTION, THE AIRCRAFT OWNER ELECTED TO CONDUCT A MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHT. WHILE AIRBORNE, HE SHUT DOWN THE RIGHT ENGINE, THEN FEATHERED AND UNFEATHERED THE PROPELLER, AND RESTARTED THE ENGINE BY LETTING THE PROPELLER WINDMILL. WHEN HE FOLLOWED THE SAME PROCEDURE WITH THE LEFT ENGINE AND PROPELLER, THE PROPELLER FAILED TO UNFEATHER AND HE COULD NOT RESTART THE ENGINE. THE PILOT RETURNED TO THE AIRPORT WITH ONE ENGINE OPERATING AND ATTEMPTED TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR DURING PATTERN ENTRY. THE LANDING GEAR DID NOT EXTEND AND THE PILOT INITIATED A GO-AROUND. THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT CLIMB AND BEGAN TO LOOSE ALTITUDE. EVENTUALLY, IT COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND OFF AIRPORT DURING AN UNARRESTED DESCENT. THE LANDING GEAR EXTENSION AND RETRACTION SYSTEM WAS HYDRAULIC AND POWERED BY A PUMP ON THE LEFT ENGINE. THE FLIGHT MANUAL PROVIDED TWO ALTERNATE MEANS OF EMERGENCY GEAR EXTENSION, NEITHER OF WHICH THE PILOT ATTEMPTED ON THE FIRST LANDING APPROACH. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA263.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around, maintenance). All research papers