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Atlas / NTSB / MIA98LA143

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event MIA98LA143

1998-04-25 LAKELAND, Florida, United States Airport · LAL Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to obtain the proper touch down point (landed left of runway) on landing.

Factual narrative

On April 25, 1998, about 0820 eastern daylight time, an Orlando Heli Air Inc., TR-2000, experimental airplane, registered to Orlando Heli Air Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 photo flight, crashed on landing at the Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport, Lakeland, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot reported minor injuries. The flight originated from Lakeland-Linder Airport, about 1 hour before the accident. The pilot stated he made a landing to the sod runway. On landing rollout the airplane crossed a taxiway, became airborne, and collided with the ground hard in a nose down, right wing low attitude. The right main landing gear separated and the airplane rotated around the vertical axis to the left. The left wing tip collided with the ground and the airplane nosed down, coming to rest on its nose, separating the propeller assembly. The pilot did not realize he landed left of the runway until after the accident. The pilot landed to the left of the designated runway, collided with a raised portion of a taxiway, became airborne, and collided with the ground hard in a nose down right wing low attitude. The right main landing gear separated, and the airplane rotated around the vertical axis to the left. The left wing tip collided with the ground and the airplane nosed down coming to rest on its nose. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1998_MIA98LA143.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.