FTW89DRG01

1988-10-06 · SAN BENITO, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport T66

Aircraft involved

N3S SHAMGAUGH PITTS SPECIAL None

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER TORQUING OF THE 'B' NUT FITTING ON THE MAIN FUEL SUPPLY LINE TO THE POWERPLANT AT THE FIREWALL AND THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PRE-FLIGHT INSPECTION.

Factual narrative

DURING FLIGHT, THE ENGINE LOST POWER & THE PILOT TRIED TO GLIDE THE AIRPLANE TO AN AIRPORT, BUT WAS UNABLE. HE SELECTED A FIELD FOR AN EMERGENCY LANDING; HOWEVER, DURING THE LANDING, THE AIRPLANE ENCOUNTERED ROUGH TERRAIN & WAS DAMAGED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT A FUEL LINE HAD SEPARATED AT THE FIRE WALL, WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF POWER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_FTW89DRG01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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