NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX90FA145
Registry · N91081
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
AEROSTAR INTERNATIONAL INC RX-6
Engine
NONE NONE
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19931011
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AC9A35
Registrant of record
STURGE GREGORY R
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
IMPROPER ADJUSTMENT OF THE TURBO-CHARGER ABSOLUTE PRESSURE CONTROLLER, AND IMPROPER MANIPULATION OF THE POWER PLANT CONTROLS BY THE PILOT DURING THE GO-AROUND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: FAILURE OF COMPANY MANAGEMENT TO PROPERLY TRAIN THE PILOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPROVED COMPANY TRAINING PROGRAM, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN TURBO-CHARGED ENGINE OPERATIONS.
Factual narrative
ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE ACFT WAS ABOUT TO TOUCHDOWN FROM A NORMAL APCH TO RWY 21, WHEN IT ENCOUNTERED VARIALBLE WIND CONDS & BALLOONED TO ABOUT 70' AGL. THE PLT INITIATED A GO-AROUND. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, WITNESSES OBSERVED A PUFF OF SMOKE EMANATE FROM THE ACFT, THEN THE PLT TRANSMITTED THAT THE FLT WAS 'GOING DOWN.' SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES ON WOODED TERRAIN ABOUT 1/2 MI FROM THE DEP END OF THE RWY. AN EXAM REVEALED A LACK OF POWER SIGNATURES ON THE PROP; EVIDENCE OF SOOTING WAS FOUND ON THE SPARK PLUGS (INDICATING A RICH MIXTURE). TESTING OF THE TURBO-CONTROLLER REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT IT HAD BEEN ADJUSTED TO A LOW SETTING; THE TURBO WOULD ONLY PRODUCE A MAXIMUM AIR FLOW EQUAL TO HIGH CRUISE POWER. THE ENG MANUFACTURER RPRTD THAT THIS SITUATION COULD PRODUCE AN OVER-RICH MIXTURE, PARTICULARILY IF THE THROTTLE AND/OR MIXTURE CONTROLS WERE IMPROPPERLY MANIPULATED. THE PILOT LACKED EXPERIENCE IN ACFT WITH TURBO-CHARGED ENGS & HE WAS NOT TRAINED IAW THE COMPANY TRAINING PROGRAM. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_LAX90FA145.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research)
Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace)
Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…
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