ATL90LA047

1989-12-29 · WINSTON SALEM, North Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

N5145V Morrisey 2150A Serious

Probable cause & findings

A BLOCKED FUEL VENT LINE, WHICH PREVENTED NORMAL FUEL FLOW TO THE ENGINE AND SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF POWER.

Factual narrative

ABOUT 15 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PILOT EXPERIENCED A COMPLETE POWER LOSS. HIS ATTEMPTS TO RESTART THE ENGINE FAILED & THE AIRPLANE CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA. A WRECKAGE EXAMINATION DISCLOSED THAT THE LEFT FUEL VENT WAS BLOCKED, WHICH RESTRICTED AND TERMINATED THE GRAVITY FLOW OF FUEL TO THE ENGINE. THIS BLOCKAGE WAS LOCATED WITHIN THE WING STRUCTURE. THE PILOT WAS OPERATING FROM THE LEFT FUEL TANK WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90LA047.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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