- Date
- December 22, 1988, 16:29 local (22:29 UTC)
- Place
- Mosinee, WI
- Injuries
- 37 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N427MQAerospatiale ATR-42
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881222071639I
- Case key
- 14280
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
Stall induced by the accretion of moderate to severe clear icing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
A missed approach was executed on the first approach, and the crew elected to fly the complete procedure turn for the ILS at the central Wisconsin airport. Both the first and second approachs were flown at 3000 feet MSL in IMC conditions with moderate to heavy rain. A temperature inversion existed from 5000 feet to 3000 feet MSL which created conditions conducive to moderate to severe clear icing. The aircraft was in these conditions for 11.8 minutes. Approximately one-half way through the procedure turn, which was flown with the autopilot on, the captain reduced power to slow for gear extension. At 157 knots clean configuration the aircraft stalled and rolled 80 degrees to the left and 60 degrees to the right. The crew applied full power and executed stall recovery procedures. The aircraft was recovered with an altitude loss of 600 feet. The crew did not perceive any ice accretion, and the airframe deice was not on until after the stall. The third approach was uneventful.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N427MQ
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale ATR-42 (ATR 42)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0091
- Airframe hours
- 1,819
- Engine
- P&W PW-120, 1,800 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Simmons Airlines, doing business as American Eagle
- Registered owner
- Simmons Airlines, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- ORD · Chicago, IL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CWA · Central Wisconsin, runway 8, 7,645 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,614 total · 565 in this make and model · 113 in the last 90 days · 42 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 130° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CWA, 10 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.