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ATL90FA145

1990-07-15 · ATLANTA, Georgia, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FTY

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S INADEQUATE FUEL MANAGEMENT, IN THAT HE DID NOT SELECT MAIN FUEL TANKS PRIOR TO THIS APPROACH. THIS RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION TO THE ENGINES, AND THE SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF ALL ENGINE POWER.

Factual narrative

AFTER LEVEL OFF FROM HIS DESCENT FOR A VISUAL APPROACH, THE PILOT NOTICED THAT BOTH ENGINES HAD QUIT. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TERRAIN ABOUT 1/4 MILE FROM THE AIRPORT. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE SWITCHED TO HIS MAIN FUEL TANKS 12 MILES FROM THE AIRPORT, AND THAT HE HAD ABOUT 150 POUNDS OF FUEL IN EACH OF HIS FOUR TANKS. INSPECTION OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED ONLY .25 GALLONS OF FUEL IN THE LEFT AUXILIARY TANK. THE OTHER TANKS WERE RUPTURED FROM IMPACT FORCES. ALTHOUGH THE AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS ARE TO BE USED IN CRUISE FLIGHT ONLY, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE WAS USING THE AUXILIARY TANKS DURING THE DESCENT FOR LANDING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL90FA145.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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