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BFO90MA023

1990-01-30 · COLUMBIA, Missouri, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport COU

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT BY THE PILOT(S), WATER CONTAMINATION OF THE FUEL, LOW LEVEL OF DEICE FLUID (METHANOL) IN THE DEICE TANK, AND SUBSEQUENT ICE BLOCKAGE OF THE FUEL FILTERS. DARKNESS WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Factual narrative

THE ACFT WAS EN ROUTE AT 31,000 FT, WHEN THE LOW PRESSURE FUEL FILTER WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE PLT DIVERTED TOWARD COLUMBIA, MO, BUT BEFORE REACHING COLUMBIA, BOTH ENGINES LOST POWER. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHED ABOUT 2 MI EAST OF THE ARPT. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE FUEL WAS CONTAMINATED WITH WATER. THE FUEL FILTER DEICING SYSTEM WAS OPERATIONAL, BUT A POST-ACDNT EXAM REVEALED THE DEICING TANK WAS EMPTY. THIS WAS THE 2ND FLT SINCE THE DEICE TANK HAD BEEN SERVICED. THE MANUFACTURER'S INFO INDICATED THE SUPPLY TANK SHOULD HAVE PROVIDED ABOUT 3 TO 4 HRS OF FILTER DEICING OPERATION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_BFO90MA023.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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