NTSB LAX92LA297 — 1992-07-14 · CORONA, California, United States

N377JK has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (ZIPLINE INTERNATIONAL INC P2 ZIP), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N377JK KRUG LINCOLN SPORTPLANE None

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT/BUILDER INADEQUATE PROPELLER COMPONENT RESULTING IN AN INADEQUATE CLIMB PERFORMANCE. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE AIRPLANE'S INABILITY TO CLIMB.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT/BUILDER COMPLETED A HIGH SPEED TAXI TEST ON THE RUNWAY BEFORE DEPARTING ON THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE'S FIRST FLIGHT. DURING THE TAKEOFF THE AIRPLANE FAILED TO CLIMB AFTER IT TRANSITIONED FROM GROUND EFFECT. THE ENGINE RPM WAS ADEQUATE, BUT THE AIRPLANE WOULD NOT CLIMB. THE REMAINING RUNWAY WAS INADEQUATE FOR A LANDING AND THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO GAIN ALTITUDE BY INCREASING THE FLYING SPEED, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE ALTITUDE WAS INSUFFICIENT AND THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE TREES AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT/BUILDER REPORTED THAT THE PROPELLER THRUST EFFICIENCY WAS INADEQUATE TO PRODUCE THE REQUIRED THRUST FOR CLIMB. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_LAX92LA297.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.