NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ATL91LA166
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
AN ENGINE POWER LOSS FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT HAD PURCHASED THE AIRPLANE THAT DAY AND WAS PREPARING FOR A LOCAL FLIGHT WITH HIS SON. ALL GROUND CHECKS WERE NORMAL. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, HE OBSERVED A DECREASE IN ENGINE RPM. HE SWITCHED FUEL TANKS, AND CHECKED THE MAGS, CARB HEAT, AND MIXTURE. WITH TREES AHEAD, HE TURNED THE AIRPLANE AND FORCED LANDED IN AN ADJACENT FIELD. THE AIRPLANE CAME TO A STOP, AND WAS CONSUMED BY FIRE. TEARDOWN INSPECTION OF THE ENGINE DID NOT REVEAL ANY EVIDENCE OF MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE HAD SUFFICIENT FUEL FOR THE FLIGHT. THE MAGS, CARBURETOR, AND ENGINE DRIVEN FUEL PUMP WERE DESTROYED BY FIRE. FIRE DAMAGE PREVENTED ANY TESTING OF THE AIRCRAFT FUEL. THE REASON FOR THE ENGINE POWER LOSS COULD NOT BE DETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_ATL91LA166.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.