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SEA91FA054

1991-02-19 · COTTAGE GROVE, Oregon, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 61S

Current FAA registration · N4518H

Make / Model
PIPER PA-15
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5794B

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT DID NOT MAINTAIN AN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED. FACTORS TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: A DARK NIGHT CONDITION AND AN UNCONTROLLED STALL/SPIN.

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKE OFF FROM AN UNCONTROLLED STRIP DURING DARK NIGHT CONDITIONS, THE PILOT LOST CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE TERRAIN IN A VERTICAL, NOSE DOWN POSITION. DURING THE POST CRASH INSPECTION, THERE WERE NO NOTED MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS WITH THE AIRPLANE OR ENGINE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_SEA91FA054.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers