NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MKC90FA091
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT'S DECISION TO CONTINUE VFR FLIGHT INTO IMC. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE LOW CEILINGS, RAIN, AND TURBULENCE ENCOUNTERED AT LOW ALTITUDE, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT TRAINING/EXPERIENCE.
Factual narrative
BEFORE TAKEOFF, THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT WAS BRIEFED BY THE WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE FOR A VFR, NO-FLIGHT-PLAN FLIGHT. IN FLIGHT, THE PILOT RECEIVED A BRIEFING FROM AN AFSS AND WAS TOLD THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. PILOT INFORMED CENTER THAT HE WAS CLIMBING TO 7,000 FEET TO STAY ON TOP. WHEN HE WAS APPROACHING HIS DESTINATION, HE INFORMED APPROACH CONTROL THAT HE WAS ON TOP OF AN OVERCAST AND WAS TRYING TO FIND A PLACE TO GET DOWN. AFTER RADIO AND RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST WITH THIS AIRPLANE. ANOTHER APPROACH CONTROLLER OBSERVED A SLOW MOVING PRIMARY RADAR TARGET SOUTH OF THE DESTINATION AIRPORT, BUT AFTER IT WAS LOST, HE WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE ITS LAST KNOWN LOCATION, OR ITS IDENTITY. AIRPLANE WAS IN NEAR LEVEL ATTITUDE AT TREE IMPACT, THEN NEAR 60 DEGREE DOWN PATH TO TERRAIN. DAMAGE TO TREES, AND PROPELLER INDICATE ENGINE POWER BEING DEVELOPED AT IMPACT. WX IN AREA NOT KNOWN. WX STUDY SHOWS FORECAST OF HEAVY RAIN, REDUCED VISIBILITIES, MODERATE TURBULENCE BELOW CLOUDS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_MKC90FA091.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (imc, turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗