FTW89DRG10
1989-09-16 · KERRVILLE, Texas, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport ERV
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION, DUE TO AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FUEL.
Factual narrative
THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE WAS ON AN EXTENDED BASE LEG TO LAND WHEN THE ENG LOST POWER. THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE ARPT & THE ACFT STRUCK A TREE & CRASHED BEFORE REACHING A CLEAR AREA. LESS THAN ONE CUP OF FUEL WAS DRAINED FROM THE ENTIRE FUEL SYSTEM AT THE ACCIDENT SITE. FUEL SYSTEM INTEGRITY WAS CONFIRMED BY THE INVESTIGATOR. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE FOUND OF INTERNAL POWERPLANT FAILURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_FTW89DRG10.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers
- 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 …