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Atlas / NTSB / BFO91LA018

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event BFO91LA018

1990-11-23 MATOACA, Virginia, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF FOUR PROPELLER RETENTION AND THE PILOT'S MISJUDGEMENT OF THE FORCED LANDING APPROACH.

Factual narrative

THE PLT REPORTED HE WAS EN ROUTE WHEN THE ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, THE ENGINE LOST POWER COMPLETELY. AN AUTOROTATION LANDING WAS MADE IN A PLOWED FIELD WHERE THE ACFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED. EXAMINATION OF THE ACFT REVEALED THE LEFT FUEL TANK WAS ONE-THIRD FULL AND THE RIGHT TANK WAS EMPTY. THE LEFT FUEL TANK VENT WAS OBSTRUCTED WITH MUD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_BFO91LA018.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.