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ATL90LA034

1989-12-03 · JACKSON, Tennessee, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MKL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

LOSS OF POWER IN BOTH ENGINES (PROBABLE FUEL STARVATION) DUE TO IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT(S), AND LACK OF SUPERVISION BY THE INSTRUCTOR. SOFT TERRAIN IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A FACTOR.

Factual narrative

THE PILOTS WERE CONDUCTING INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TRAINING & THE ACFT WAS OVER THE VOR WHEN THE LEFT ENGINE LOST POWER. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR (CFI) ASSUMED CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE & ATTEMPTED TO RESTORE THE POWER, BUT WAS UNABLE. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE RIGHT ENGINE QUIT. THE CFI TRIED TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING ON THE AIRPORT, BUT WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE SELECTED RUNWAY. THE ACFT TOUCHED DOWN ON SOFT TERRAIN SHORT OF RUNWAY 20 & WAS DAMAGED. AN EXAM OF THE ACFT REVEALED NO MECHANICAL PROBLEMS WHICH WOULD HAVE PREVENTED NORMAL OPERATION OF THE ENGINE OR ACFT SYSTEMS. BOTH ENGINES OPERATED NORMALLY DURING A POST-ACCIDENT CHECK. THE TEMPERATURE & DEW POINT WERE 30 & 7 DEGREES, RESPECTIVELY. ACCORDING TO CARBURETOR ICING CHARTS, CARBURETOR ICING WAS NOT PROBABLE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90LA034.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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