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MKC89LA071

1989-03-03 · DES MOINES, Iowa, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DSM

N5119C has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (THRUSH AIRCRAFT INC S2R-T660, built 2019), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO PROPERLY FLARE THE AIRPLANE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

Factual narrative

WHILE ON THE THIRD LANDING ATTEMPT, AFTER TWO GO-AROUNDS, THE ACFT LANDED HARD COLLAPSING THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR AND VEERED OFF THE RUNWAY. EXISTING WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE , DARK NIGHT, 500 FT CEILING, 1 1/2 MILES VIS AND LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE. THE PLT SAID THE CONTROL TOWER TURNED THE LIGHTS UP TO BRIGHT INTENSITY TO ASSIST HIM IN MAKING VISUAL CONTACT. THE PLT SAID THE BRIGHT LIGHTS CAUSED DISTORTION AND THE ILLUSION OF BEING LOWER THAN ACTUAL. THE ACFT HAD ACCUMULATED ICE ON THE AIRFRAME AND DEICING EQUIPMENT WAS BEING UTILIZED. THE PLT SAID HE USED HIGHER THAN NORMAL APPROACH SPEED BECAUSE OF THE ICE ACCUMULATION AND WEIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MKC89LA071.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, go-around). All research papers