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CHI90LA127

1990-05-11 · ANDERSON, Indiana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AID

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND FAILED TO SELECT THE FUEL VALVE TO A TANK CONTAINING USABLE FUEL RESULTING IN FUEL STARVATION.

Factual narrative

ON A DARK NIGHT, THE PRIVATE PILOT WITH ONE PASSENGER WAS RETURNING FROM A CROSS COUNTRY TRIP. NEAR THE INTENDED DESTINATION AIRPORT, A TOTAL POWER LOSS OF THE ENGINE WAS EXPERIENCED. AN EMERGENCY LANDING WAS ATTEMPTED AT THE INTENDED LANDING AIRPORT; HOWEVER, THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY IN TREES. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS POSITIONED TO THE RIGHT TANK, WHICH CONTAINED NO USABLE FUEL; HOWEVER, THE LEFT TANK WAS FULL OF FUEL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI90LA127.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.