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Atlas / NTSB / ATL91LA004

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ATL91LA004

1990-10-17 KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, United States Airport · TN98 Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N19SR

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

DJI PHANTOM 2

0

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A16772

Registrant of record

EFFINGHAM COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT'S INADVERTENT CLOSING OF THE FUEL SHUTOFF VALVE, WHICH TOTALLY OR PARTIALLY RESTRICTED FUEL FLOW TO THE ENGINE.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AT ABOUT 300 FEET AGL DURING THE TAKEOFF LEG. THE AIRPLANE WAS FORCE LANDED IN A LAKE ABOUT 500 FEET FROM THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. AN ENGINE EXAMINATION FAILED TO REVEAL THE SOURCE OF THE POWER LOSS. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT SOMEONE MAY HAVE PLACED THE FUEL LEVER INTO THE 'OFF' POSITION PRIOR TO FLIGHT. HE ALSO STATED THAT HE MAY HAVE INADVERTENTLY KICKED THE FUEL SWITCH TO THE 'OFF' POSITION. HE REPORTED THAT HE DOES NOT USE A CHECKLIST, AND HE SETS THE COCKPIT SWITCHES UP FOR THE NEXT FLIGHT AFTER ENGINE SHUTDOWN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL91LA004.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.