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MKC89LA072

1989-03-03 · CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CID

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PROPER TOUCHDOWN POINT WAS NOT ATTAINED BY THE PILOT AND THE CRANKSHAFT FAILURE ON ONE ENGINE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE APPROACH LIGHTS WHICH WERE CONTACTED.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT SAID THAT AFTER ABOUT 15 TO 20 MINUTES INTO A PERSONAL IFR CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT, THE LEFT ENGINE BEGAN TO VIBRATE AND LOSE POWER. HE SHUT THE ENGINE DOWN, CONTACTED DES MOINES APPROACH FOR VECTORS TO THE ARPT. THE DSM WEATHER WAS BELOW MINIMUM SO VECTORS WERE GIVEN TO THE CEDAR RAPIDS ARPT. DURING THE APPROACH TO RUNWAY 9 AN AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WAS ENCOUNTERED CAUSING POOR VISIBILITY. THE ACFT LANDED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY STRIKING THE APPROACH LIGHTS AND SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGING THE ACFT. POST ACCIDENT LEFT ENGINE TEARDOWN REVEALED A BROKE CRANKSHAFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MKC89LA072.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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