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MKC89GA147

1989-06-30 · ATLANTIC, Iowa, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED, WHILE MANEUVERING AT LOW ALTITUDE, WHICH LED TO AN INADVERTENT STALL AND LOSS OF CONTROL. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE LACK OF ALTITUDE TO RECOVER FROM A STALL.

Factual narrative

THE PUBLIC USE ACFT WAS BEING USED BY THE IOWA STATE HIGHWAY PATROL TO SEARCH FOR A MISSING PERSON. GROUND SEARCHERS IN THE AREA RPRTD THE ACFT WAS FLYING AT AN ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 100 TO 150 FT AGL, WHEN IT WAS OBSERVED TO ENTER A STEEP BANK, APCHG 90 DEG. THE TURN WAS MADE TO CIRCLE BACK & KEEP SIGHT OF SOMEONE BELIEVED TO BE THE MISSING PERSON. WHILE TURNING, THE ACFT SUDDENLY ENTERED A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE & IMPACTED THE GROUND. A POST-ACDNT INSPN OF THE ACFT DID NOT REVEAL ANY PREIMPACT MECHANICAL FAILURES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MKC89GA147.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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