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Atlas / NTSB / MKC89LA059

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event MKC89LA059

1989-02-13 CROOKSTON, Minnesota, United States Airport · CKN None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PREMATURE RAISING OF FLAPS AND THE FAILURE OF THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT TO MAINTAIN RUNWAY ALIGNMENT DURING THE ATTEMPTED GO AROUND.

Factual narrative

THE CFI AND STUDENT PILOT HAD COMPLETED 3 TOUCH AND GOES WITHOUT INCIDENT, AND ON THE FOURTH ATTEMPT THE CFI WAS GOING TO FLY JUST ABOVE THE RUNWAY TO ASSIST THE STUDENT JUDGE HIS FLARE HEIGHT. THE LEFT MAIN GEAR TOUCHED DOWN AND A GO AROUND MANUEVER WAS INITIATED. THE STUDENT ADDED FULL POWER AND THE CFI RETRACTED THE FLAPS TO THE 20 DEGREE POSITION. THE ACFT DESCENDED, DRIFTED TO THE LEFT, STRUCK A SNOW BANK AND CAME TO REST INVERTED. A SLIGHT RIGHT CROSS WIND EXISTED AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE PRE-SOLO STUDENT HAD 9 HOURS OF FLIGHT EXPERIENCE, ALL IN THE CESSNA 152. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MKC89LA059.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.