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ATL91LA172

1991-09-11 · JACKSON, Tennessee, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MKL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO SELECT THE MAIN FUEL TANKS PRIOR TO THE APPROACH, RESULTING IN FUEL STARVATION AND ENGINE STOPPAGE.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT HAD CANCELLED HIS IFR FLIGHT PLAN, AND WAS PROCEEDING TO THE AIRPORT VISUALLY. DURING HIS APPROACH, THE LEFT ENGINE QUIT, FOLLOWED BY THE RIGHT ENGINE. HE THEN REALIZED THAT HE HAD FAILED TO SWITCH FROM THE AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS TO THE MAIN FUEL TANKS PRIOR TO THE APPROACH, AND EXHAUSTED THE AUXILIARY FUEL SUPPLY. WITH INSUFFICIENT ALTITUDE TO ATTEMPT A RESTART, HE FORCE LANDED THE AIRPLANE IN A BEAN FIELD SHORT OF THE AIRPORT. AFTER THE AIRPLANE CAME TO A STOP, THE OCCUPANTS EGRESSED, AND THE FUSELAGE WAS CONSUMED IN A POST-CRASH FIRE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_ATL91LA172.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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