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LAX92FA188

1992-04-25 · RENO, Nevada, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RNO

N3121V has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (NEW PIPER AIRCRAFT INC PA-28-181, built 2006), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S POORLY PLANNED APPROACH TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EXISTING WIND CONDITIONS, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT CONTACTED APPROACH CONTROL AT 1720 WITH INFORMATION 'NOVEMBER' FOR RADAR SERVICE TO HIS DESTINATION. ATIS 'NOVEMBER' HAD BEEN RECORDED AT 1650 AND REPORTED THE WINDS AS 210 DEG AT 8 KTS. AT 1724, THE PILOT WAS TOLD TO CONTACT THE TOWER. AT 1725, THE PILOT WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RUNWAY 16 RIGHT. WITNESSES REPORTED THE PILOT MADE A CONSTANT TURN FROM DOWNWIND TO FINAL. THE AIRPLANE OVERSHOT FINAL AND APPEARED TO STEEPEN ITS BANK. THE AIRPLANE ENTERED AN ACCELERATED STALL FROM A LOW ALTITUDE ON THE TURN TO FINAL, AND FELL TO THE GROUND NOSE FIRST. THE PILOT'S LAST COMMUNICATION WITH THE TOWER RECORDED AT 1728:58 WAS WHEN HE SAID 'TWO ONE VICTOR'S.' THAT IS ABOUT THE TIME THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED FALLING TO THE GROUND. A WEATHER OBSERVATION TAKEN AT 1731 REPORTED WINDS FROM 290 DEG AT 13 KTS. WITH WINDS FROM THAT DIRECTION, THE PILOT HAD A LEFT QUARTERING TAIL WIND ON BASE AND A RIGHT QUARTERING TAIL WIND ON FINAL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_LAX92FA188.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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