LAX90LA122
1990-03-16 · SANTA ANA, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport SNA
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER ROTATION DURING TAKEOFF.
Factual narrative
THE AIRPLANE SUSTAINED A TAIL STRIKE DURING ROTATION. THE FLIGHT CONTINUED TO LAS VEGAS, AND POST-FLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED THAT THERE WAS SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE PRESSURE BULKHEAD. THE COMPANY'S OPERATIONAL MANUAL CAUTIONS THE FLIGHT CREW TO LIMIT THE INITIAL PITCH ATTITUDE TO 9-10 DEG, AND TO ROTATE SMOOTHLY AT A MAXIMUM RATE OF 3 DEG/SEC. THE DFDR READOUT REVEALED THAT THE ROTATION RATE EXCEEDED 7 DEG/SEC. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_LAX90LA122.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. All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract Differences Training for the Glass Cockpit
This study followed two groups of pilots from a major US air carrier as they went through a transition to advanced technology aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Experimental water droplet impingement data on modern aircraft surfaces
An experimental method has been developed to determine the water droplet impingement characteristics on two- and three-dimensional aircraft surfaces.