BFO91LA006
1990-10-22 · LEXINGTON, Kentucky, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport LEX
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE INFLIGHT DECISION CAUSING FUEL EXHAUSTION.
Factual narrative
THE ACFT WAS BEING FERRIED TO THE NEW OWNER WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED ON THE THIRD LEG OF A FLIGHT FROM HARTFORD, CT TO DALLAS, TX. THE PLT REPORTED THAT THE FUEL TANKS WERE FULL WHEN HE TOOK OFF AT 2020 EDT. HE PROCEEDED EN ROUTE AT 4000 FT MSL AT A GROUNDSPEED OF ABOUT 96 KTS. THE PLT STATED THE FUEL MIXTURE WAS LEANED FOR THE FLIGHT. ABOUT 35 MILES FROM THE DESTINATION HE NOTICED ONE FUEL QUANTITY GAGE INDICATED NEAR EMPTY, AND THE SECOND GAGE INDICATED LESS THAN HALF-FULL. ABOUT 10 MILES OUT BOTH GAGES INDICATED NEAR EMPTY. SOON AFTERWARDS THE ENGINE LOST POWER, BUT HE RESTARTED THE ENGINE. HOWEVER THE ENGINE LOST POWER AGAIN AND HE MADE A FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD ABOUT A MILE NE OF LEX. ABOUT 4 OZS OF FUEL WAS DRAINED FROM THE FUEL SYSTEM DURING THE POST- ACCIDENT EXAMINATION. FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS INDICATE ABOUT 5 GALS OF FUEL SHOULD HAVE REMAINED WHEN THE POWER LOST OCCURRED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_BFO91LA006.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers
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- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other Parachuting to Safety
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