NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI89DEE04
Registry · N11WR
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
RENNINGER MUSTANG II
Year of manufacture
1973 · 16 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19820713
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A02BDE
Registrant of record
RIVERS PAUL E
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
FUEL STARVATION (POSSIBLY FROM VAPOR LOCK), WHICH RESULTED IN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER, AND THE PILOT'S MISJUDGEMENT OF GROUND CLEARANCE DURING A FINAL TURN TO LAND.
Factual narrative
ABOUT 25 MIN AFTER LNDG FROM A PREVIOUS FLT, THE PLT TOOK OFF TO PRACTICE TAKEOFFS & LNDGS ON RWY 18. HE CLIMBED ABOUT 1200' & TURNED ONTO A CROSSWIND LEG. AT ABOUT THAT TIME, THE ENG BEGAN TO LOSE POWER. THE PLT TRIED TO LAND ON RWY 27, BUT HE DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT ALT & SPEED. AS HE WAS COMPLETING A TURN TOWARD THE RWY, A WING TIP CONTACTED THE GRND & THE ACFT CRASH LANDED. THE ACFT SLID TO A STOP ON THE RWY. THE PLT SAID HE THEN TURNED THE FUEL SELECTOR OFF, BUT ABOUT 4 TO 5 MIN LATER, A FIRE ERUPTED, WHICH HE WAS UNABLE TO EXTINGUISH WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FND. THE ACFT HAD BEEN SVCD WITH AUTO FUEL, WHICH CONTAINED A LOWER VAPOR PRESSURE THAN AVIATION FUEL & WAS MORE VULNERABLE TO VAPOR LOCK. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_CHI89DEE04.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
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