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FTW89LA118

1989-06-26 · CLEVELAND, Texas, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 6R3

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER, DUE TO FUEL STARVATION BECAUSE THE PLT MISJUDGED HIS FUEL SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION OF FUEL PER TANKS, AND AS A RESULT MISMANAGED THE SUPPLY REMAINING.

Factual narrative

AIRPLANE WAS ON A REGULAR NIGHT PART 135 FLIGHT AND WAS 17 MILES FROM DESTINATION WHEN ONE ENGINE STARTED TO SURGE AND LOST POWER. THE PILOT DECLARED AN EMERGENCY AND SAID HE WAS RUNNING OUT OF FUEL. ATC VECTORED AIRPLANE TO CLOSEST AIRPORT BUT AIRPORT DID NOT HAVE BEACON LIGHTED AND PILOT WAS LOW OVER AIRPORT BEFORE HE SAW IT. THEN THE OTHER ENGINE SURGED AND THE PILOT MADE A FORCED LANDING OFF THE AIRPORT IN HEAVY UNDERBRUSH AND ROUGH TERRAIN. INSPECTION REVEALED AIRPLANE HAD 23 GALLONS OF FUEL IN RIGHT WING, 3 GALLONS IN FUSELAGE TANK, AND ZERO FUEL IN LEFT TANK. PLT SAID AFTER THE ACC HE DECIDED NOT TO CROSS FEED BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THE FUSELAGE TANK HAD ENOUGH FUEL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_FTW89LA118.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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