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FTW90LA131

1990-07-03 · COLLEGE STATION, Texas, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CLL

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PIC'S IMPROPER FUEL TANK SELECTION, ALLOWING BOTH ENGINE TO QUIT DUE TO FUEL STARVATION.

Factual narrative

PILOT SAID THAT AFTER LEFT ENGINE QUIT WHILE TURNING FINAL, HE SWITCHED THE LEFT ENGINE FROM THE LEFT MAIN TO LEFT AUX. HE SAID ENGINE RESTARTED, THEN QUIT AGAIN. THEN RIGHT ENGINE, RUNNING ON RIGHT MAIN, QUIT. DURING FORCED LANDING, SHORT OF THE RUNWAY, THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. BOTH LEFT TANKS WERE EMPTY. RIGHT MAIN HAD 19 GALLONS, RIGHT AUX HAD 4 GALLONS. USING FUEL MANAGEMENT AS PILOT SAID, THE LEFT TANKS COULD NOT BOTH RUN DRY. LEFT ENGINE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN ON LEFT MAIN OR LEFT AUX, AND RIGHT ENGINE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN ON CROSSFEED TO LEFT MAIN. WHEN THE LEFT TANKS RAN DRY, THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT ENGINE WOULD HAVE QUIT RUNNING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_FTW90LA131.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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