Skip to content

LAX89LA279

1989-08-14 · FRESNO, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FCH

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL AND COLLISION WITH THE RUNWAY.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT OF THE PIPER PA-38 WAS PRACTICING FOR A FORCED LANDING DURING THE TAKEOFF PHASE OF FLIGHT. HE SAID HE CLOSED THE THROTTLE AS THE AIRCRAFT CLIMBED ABOUT 75 FEET ABOVE THE RUNWAY. THE AIRSPEED WAS LOW AT THE TIME AND HE LOWERED THE AIRCRAFT'S NOSE TO INCREASE AIRSPEED. HE SAID THAT THE AIRCRAFT WAS TOO CLOSE TO THE GROUND AND IT CRASHED ON THE RUNWAY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA279.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 (icing, stall). All research papers