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SEA90LA113

1990-06-27 · RENO, Nevada, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RNO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S USE OF AN INAPPROPRIATE RUNWAY. THE GUSTY TAILWIND AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE WERE FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT.

Factual narrative

THE STUDENT PILOT REPORTED THAT DURING THE TAKEOFF GROUND RUN ON RWY 16R, HE WAS AWARE OF A QUARTERING TAILWIND. AFTER TAKEOFF AND APPROXIMATELY 10 FEET AGL, A GUST OF WIND CAUGHT THE AIRPLANE. THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL AS THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE PITCHED UP THEN DOWN TO THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS WITH THE AIRPLANE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE WINDS WERE FROM 300 DEGREES AT 11 KT GUSTING TO 20 KT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_SEA90LA113.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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