LAX90LA078
1990-01-27 · INYOKERN, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport IYK
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PIC), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED WHILE MANEUVERING, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL/MUSH.
Factual narrative
THE FLT WAS ENGAGED IN A BALLOON POPPING CONTEST. AN APCH WAS MADE TO THE CONTEST AREA AT ABOUT 200' AGL, WITH SLOW AIRSPEED & THE FLAPS EXTENDED. THE PLT-IN-COMMAND (PIC) SAW A BALLOON TO HIS LEFT & MANEUVERED TO CHASE THE BALLOON. WHILE MANEUVERING, THE ACFT BEGAN TO SETTLE & THE PIC WAS UNABLE TO ARREST THE DESCENT BEFORE GROUND CONTACT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_LAX90LA078.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers
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