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SEA90LA053

1990-03-18 · JUNEAU, Alaska, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport JNU

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT DID NOT MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB AND DID NOT ADEQUATELY CORRECT THE SITUATION PRIOR TO COLLIDING WITH AN OBJECT.

Factual narrative

DURING AN INSTRUCTIONAL FLIGHT, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT A NORMAL PREFLIGHT WAS PERFORMED WITH NO ABNORMALITIES NOTED. JUST AFTER LIFT OFF, THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO DRIFT TO THE LEFT. THE PILOT APPLIED RIGHT RUDDER AND AILERON CONTROL, HOWEVER, THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED TO DRIFT TO THE LEFT AND COLLIDED INTO A BARGE THAT WAS MOORED IN A WATERWAY THAT PARALLELS THE RUNWAY. THE AIRPLANE SANK IN 35 FEET OF WATER. AFTER THE AIRPLANE WAS RETRIEVED, AND A POST CRASH INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED, THERE WERE NO NOTED MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_SEA90LA053.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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