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ATL93FA031

1992-12-04 · CALERA, Alabama, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S CONTINUED FLIGHT WITH THE FUEL TANK SELECTOR HANDLES IMPROPERLY POSITIONED, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION AND ENGINE STOPPAGE. FACTORS WERE THE CLOUDY WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE NIGHT LIGHTING CONDITIONS, AND THE STEEP, HILLY TERRAIN CONDITIONS (A QUARRY) AT THE CRASH SITE.

Factual narrative

THE COMMERCIAL PILOT AND 5 PASSENGERS WERE ON A CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT. NIGHT, IMC PREVAILED. SHORTLY AFTER THE FLIGHT BEGAN A DESCENT FOR LANDING, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE HAD AN 'ENGINE OUT'. HE THEN FOLLOWED UP BY SAYING THAT BOTH ENGINES WERE 'CUTTING OUT'. WHILE RECEIVING VECTORS TO A CLOSER AIRPORT, THE AIRPLANE CRASHED INTO THE WALL OF A DEEP ROCK QUARRY. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED BY IMPACT FORCES AND FIRE. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ONE OF THE FUEL TANK SELECTOR VALVES WAS IN THE 'AUX' TANK POSITION. THE AIRCRAFT CHECKLIST STATES THAT THE AUXILIARY TANKS ARE TO BE USED IN LEVEL FLIGHT ONLY. A TEARDOWN AND INSPECTION OF THE ENGINES AND COMPONENTS DID NOT REVEAL EVIDENCE OF A MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_ATL93FA031.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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