- Date
- April 18, 1989, 16:55 local (23:55 UTC)
- Place
- Fresno, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N1490TPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 22, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890418008709A
- Case key
- 26383
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inflight decision to abort the takeoff and land in a field. Contributing to the accident was the fence post that the aircraft collided with during the landing roll.
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
Just after liftoff, the pilot reported that the airplane felt mushy and that it would stall. The pilot opted to abort the takeoff and made a forced landing in a field. During the landing roll, the airplane collided with a fence pole. There were no reported mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1490T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7225534
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fair, Paul R.
- Registered owner
- Fair, Paul R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 1989
- Destination
- 045 · Vacaville, CA
- Airport
- Q60 · Sierra Skypark, runway 30, 2,920 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 414 total · 244 in this make and model · 380 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.