| Date: | Tuesday 11 September 1990 |
| Time: | 04:00 |
| Type: |  Morane Saulnier MS.760B Paris II |
| Owner/operator: | Stonewall Transport |
| Registration: | N23ST |
| MSN: | 50 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1960 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1108 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca Marboré VI C-2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Albuquerque, NM -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Albuquerque International Airport, NM (ABQ/KABQ) |
| Las Cruces Municipal Airport, NM (LRU/KLRU) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot, a heart transplant surgeon, planned a return flight to Las Cruces to retrieve a donor heart. After takeoff into a dark, clear, moonless night towards open, flat terrain with few ground lights, the aircraft impacted the ground in a left wing/nose slightly low attitude at high speed. The pilot had been awake for 22 hours with little or no rest.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "Failure of the pilot to maintain a climb after takeoff, due to spatial disorientation. Factors related to the accident were: darkness, pilot fatigue, and the pilot's lack of recent experience in night flying operation. "
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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