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CHI90DEV06

1990-06-09 · SALEM, Illinois, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SLO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER POSITIONING OF THE FUEL SELECTOR BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION, AND THE PILOT'S IMPROPER EMERGENCY PROCEDURE.

Factual narrative

A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER OCCURRED, WHILE THE AIRPLANE WAS IN CRUISE AT 7500 FEET MSL. THE PILOT SWITCHED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT MAIN TANK, ATTEMPTED A RESTART WITHOUT SUCCESS AND WAS COMMITTED TO A FORCED LANDING. DURING ROLLOUT ON SOFT TERRAIN, THE AIRPLANE PITCHED FORWARD ON THE NOSE WHEEL AND LEFT WINGTIP TO AN INVERTED POSTION, WHICH RESULTED IN SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. THE PASSENGER REPORTED NO INJURY; THE PILOT SUSTAINED MINOR INJURY. THE LEFT AUXILIARY TANK AND RIGHT MAIN TANK CONTAINED FUEL; THE LEFT MAIN TANK WAS EMPTY, WHEN INSPECTED. TESTS AFFIRMED FUEL TRANSFER AND ENGINE OPERATION. NO MECHANICAL DISCREPANCY WAS FOUND TO ACCOUNT FOR THE POWER LOSS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI90DEV06.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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