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ATL91LA038

1991-01-14 · BOLIVAR, Tennessee, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport M08

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE INTERRUPTION OF FUEL TO THE LEFT ENGINE DUE TO CONTAMINATION OF THE LEFT FUEL TANK, RESULTING IN ENGINE STOPPAGE.

Factual narrative

THE CFI AND DUAL STUDENT WERE ON INITIAL TAKEOFF AFTER THE STUDENT HAD SUCCESSFULLY HANDLED A SIMULATED RIGHT ENGINE FAILURE ON TAKEOFF ROLL. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE LEFT ENGINE QUIT. THE CFI TOOK CONTROL, BUT WAS UNABLE TO CLEAR TREES OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE TREES BEFORE IMPACTING THE GROUND. AN INSPECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT FUEL SYSTEM REVEALED PRESENCE OF SOME SILICONE-TYPE MATERIAL IN THE LEFT FUEL TANK. THIS MATERIAL STOPPED UP A HAND PUMP USED TO EMPTY THE FUEL TANK AT THE ACCIDENT SITE. AFTER THE ACCIDENT, THE LEFT ENGINE WAS SUCCESSFULLY RUN WITH AN ALTERNATE FUEL SYSTEM, AND NO ABNORMALITIES WERE FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_ATL91LA038.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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