NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ATL89LA140
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
COMPLETE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE FUEL EXHAUSTION WAS DUE TO THE PILOT NOT ASSURING AN ADEQUATE FUEL SUPPLY FOR THE FLIGHT BY VISUAL INSPECTION DURING HIS PREFLIGHT INSPECTION. CONTRIBUTING WAS THE PILOT'S DECISION TO CONTINUE FLIGHT WITH A KNOWN INACCURACY IN THE FUEL QUANTITY INDICATING SYSTEM.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT/OWNER OF THE ACFT INDICATED THAT HE HAD THE ACFT REFUELED PRIOR TO DEPARTURE FROM SARASOTA. HE QUESTIONED THE LINE PERSON, WHO DID THE REFUELING, BUT DID NOT VISUALLY CHECK THE QUANTITY PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE WAS AWARE THAT THE FUEL QUANTITY GAUGES WERE INACCURATE, SO HE ALWAYS FLEW BY ELAPSED TIME. APPROACHING CHARLOTTE, NC FROM THE SOUTH, HE CONTACTED APPROACH CONTROL AND INDICATED THAT HE WOULD LAND AT ROCK HILL, SC. AFTER SOME APPARENT CONSIDERATION, HE CHANGED HIS DESTINATION TO CHARLOTTE, WHICH WAS ONLY ABOUT 14 MI AWAY. HE WAS BEING RADAR VECTORED FOR A LANDING ON RUNWAY 18L AT CHARLOTTE, WHEN THE ENGINE LOST POWER. THE PILOT RADIOED THAT HE HAD RUN OUT OF FUEL AND WAS LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LAND. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ON A SMALL LAKE, BECAME AIRBORNE AND COLLIDED WITH TREES AT THE EDGE OF THE LAKE. NO EVIDENCE OF FUEL WAS FOUND AT THE SITE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_ATL89LA140.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor
Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
AOPA Air Safety Institute safety advisor on preventing fuel-exhaustion and fuel-starvation accidents in general aviation. Covers pre-flight fuel planning, reserve requirements (14 CFR 91.151, 91.167),…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents
An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safet…
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other
Parachuting to Safety
NASA's Langley Research Center awarded Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to research and develop a new, low cost, lightweight recovery system …
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