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MIA90FA046

1989-12-29 · MERIDIAN, Mississippi, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MEI

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IN FLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL BY THE PILOT WHILE FLYING IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. CONTRIBUTING FACTOR(S) WAS: THE PILOT'S APPREHENSION TOWARD INSTRUMENT FLYING AND THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT EXISTED AT THE TIME.

Factual narrative

AT 1151, WHILE BEING VECTORED FOR AN APPROACH, THE PILOT REPORTED HE WAS ENCOUNTERING 'A LITTLE CHOP AND RAIN' AND REQUESTED A DESCENT. AT 1159, WHILE BEING VECTORED AROUND WEATHER, THE PILOT REPORTED'...I CANNOT HOLD MY ALTITUDE. EXAMINATION OF THE CRASH SITE INDICATED THE AIRPLANE DESCENDED THROUGH TREES IN A NOSE DOWN NEAR VERTICAL ATTITUDE. THE PILOT'S WIFE STATED THAT THE PILOT DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE FLYING ON INSTRUMENTS AND THAT HE WAS AFRAID HE MIGHT ENCOUNTER VERTIGO. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MIA90FA046.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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