NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI90LA113
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION IN CHOOSING TO CONTINUE FLIGHT TO THE DESTINATION AIRPORT WITHOUT REFUELING. THE DARK NIGHT CONDITIONS, AND A KNOWN INTERMITTENT RADIO PROBLEM WERE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD SUFFICIENT FUEL TO REACH HIS DESTINATION AIRPORT, BUT DURING ARRIVAL, HE HAD TO CIRCLE IN THE VICINITY OF THE AIRPORT, WHILE HE ATTEMPTED TO ACTIVATE THE PILOT CONTROLLED RUNWAY LIGHTING SYSTEM. THE ENGINE LOST POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION, WHILE HE CIRCLED. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED TREES AND THE GROUND DURING A FORCED LANDING. POST-ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPORT LIGHTS REVEALED THAT THEY WERE CAPABLE OF NORMAL OPERATION. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE HAD BEEN EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTIES WITH THE AIRCRAFT'S RADIOS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_CHI90LA113.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor
Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
AOPA Air Safety Institute safety advisor on preventing fuel-exhaustion and fuel-starvation accidents in general aviation. Covers pre-flight fuel planning, reserve requirements (14 CFR 91.151, 91.167),…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents
An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safet…
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other
Parachuting to Safety
NASA's Langley Research Center awarded Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to research and develop a new, low cost, lightweight recovery system …
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