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LAX90FA331

1990-09-21 · FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FLG

N3558 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (FOX JOHN M PIETENPOL AIRCAMPER, built 2016), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

VFR FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER ALTITUDE DURING THE APPROACH TO LAND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND FAILURE OF COMPANY/OPERATOR/MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL TO PROVIDE CURRENT WEATHER.

Factual narrative

THE ACFT WAS ON A NIGHT FLT FM PHOENIX TO FLAGSTAFF, AZ, TO DELIVER CARGO IN ACCORDANCE WITH AN AIR TAXI DELIVERY SCHEDULE. BFR REACHING FLAGSTAFF, THE PLT CANCELED HIS IFR CLNC & PROCEEDED VFR. HE ENCTRD LOWERING CIGS & RW. DRG THE APCH, HE EXTENDED THE LNDG GEAR & PARTIALLY EXTENDED THE WING FLAPS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT HIT TREES & CRASHED IN AN UNPOPULATED AREA ABT 2.5 MI SSE OF THE ARPT AT AN ELEV OF ABT 6800 FT; ARPT ELEV WAS 7011 FT. INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED WHILE THE ACFT WAS IN A RIGHT 20 DEG BANK (TOWARD RWY 3). WX DATA AT THE COMPANY DISPATCH WAS NOT CURRENT & DID NOT DEPICT THE ADVERSE LOCAL CONDS NEAR THE DESTN ARPT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_LAX90FA331.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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