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CHI91DEM02

1990-12-11 · NORTH MUSKEGON, Michigan, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 31C

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S NOT MAINTAINING SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED AND ENTERING INTO AN INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS RELATED TO THIS ACCIDENT WERE FUEL STARVATION AND THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S NOT SELECTING A PROPER FUEL TANK SELECTOR POSITION.

Factual narrative

THE LIGHT SINGLE-ENGINED AIRPLANE WAS FLYING A DOWNWIND LEG IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN WHEN THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING. A WITNESS HEARD THE ENGINE STOP, LOOKED UP AND SAW THE AIRPLANE 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. THE WITNESS WATCHED THE AIRPLANE UNTIL IT WENT BEHIND THE TOPS OF THE TREES. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS THE WITNESS HEARD A LOUD THUMP. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE AIRPLANE HAD STRUCK THE GROUND IN A STEEP NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE WHILE ATTEMPTING TO TURN A SHORT FINAL APPROACH LEG. EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED AN EMPTY MAIN FUEL TANK WITH ITS SELECTOR VALVE IN THE 'ON' POSITION; AND A FULL AUXILIARY FUEL TANK WITH ITS SELECTOR VALVE IN THE 'OFF' POSITION. FUEL HAD NOT LEAKED FROM THE MAIN TANK. A SMALL LEAK WAS OBSERVED AROUND THE AUXILIARY TANK. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_CHI91DEM02.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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