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MKC90LA022

1989-11-06 · TOLEDO, Iowa, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 8C5

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT BECAME LOST/DISORIENTATED AND ATTEMPTED A LANDING AT THE WRONG AIRPORT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, UNFAVORABLE WIND CONDITION, AND THE STUDENT PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE OF OPERATION.

Factual narrative

WHILE ON A SOLO, NIGHT CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT, THE STUDENT PILOT ENCOUNTERED UNFAVORABLE WINDS AND MISTAKENLY ARRIVED AT THE WRONG AIRPORT. SHE TRIED TO ACTIVATE THE RUNWAY LIGHTS WITHOUT SUCCESS, THEN ATTEMPTED TO LAND ON WHAT SHE THOUGHT WAS THE RWY. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT STRUCK POWER LINES ABOUT ONE QUARTER MILE TO THE EAST OF THE APPROACH END OF RWY 35, THEN COLLIDED WITH THE TERRAIN. THE PILOT HAD LOGGED 1.3 HOURS OF NIGHT DUAL INSTRUCTION AND THIS WAS HER FIRST SOLO NIGHT CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MKC90LA022.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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