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SEA90LA037

1990-01-30 · COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport COE

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE LOSS OF THE FLIGHT CREW'S VISUAL PERCEPTION, DUE TO AN UNFORESEEN WHITEOUT CONDITION. A RELATED FACTOR WAS THE SNOWBANK.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT AFTER REACHING THE AIRPORT, IMC PREVAILED AND LIGHT SNOW WAS FALLING. AT THE DECISION HEIGHT, THE APPROACH LIGHTS AND THE RUNWAY LIGHTS WERE IN SIGHT. THE RUNWAY WAS COVERED WITH SNOW. DURING THE FLARE TO LAND, THE PILOT LOST DEPTH PERCEPTION AND RUNWAY ALIGNMENT FROM BLOWING SNOW. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN AND THE PILOT BELIEVEDTHE PLANE WAS SLIGHTLY LEFT OF THE CENTERLINE. HE CORRECTED WITH RIGHT RUDDER; HOWEVER, THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED TO TRAVEL LEFT. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT WENT OFF THE RUNWAY AND CAME TO REST IN A SNOWBANK WITH DAMAGE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_SEA90LA037.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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