NTSB CAROL · Event
Event FTW91FA028
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT AND HIS DELAY IN DIVERTING TO AN ALTERNATE AIRPORT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO LACK OF FUEL. THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND RADIO MALFUNCTION WERE RELATED FACTORS.
Factual narrative
DURING A FLT FROM FLORIDA TO TEXAS, THE PLT MADE AN EN ROUTE STOP AT PANAMA CITY, FL & REFUELED. AT 1043 CST, HE DEPD PANAMA CITY & PROCEEDED ON AN IFR FLT AT FLT LEVEL 310 TO DALLAS, TX. AT 1227 CST (AFTER MAKING A WX CHECK), HE CHANGED HIS DESTN & WAS CLEARED TO PROCEED DIRECT TO SHREVEPORT, LA. THE LAST TRANSMISSION FROM THE ACFT WAS AT 1134:50. WHEN HE WAS CLRD TO DSCND TO FL 24O AT 1139, NO RADIO REPLY WAS RCVD. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE PLT DSCNDD & MADE AN APCH TO RWY 14 AT THE SHREVEPORT RGNL ARPT. TOWER PSNL RPRTD THAT AFTER FLYING BY THE TOWER OR MAKING A MISSED APCH, RADAR CONTACT WITH THE ACFT WAS LOST. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT HIT TREES & CRASHED AFTER BEING AIRBORNE ABOUT 1.8 HRS. IT HAD BEGUN THE FLT WITH AN ESTIMATED 1.5 HRS OF FUEL ON BOARD. NO FUEL WAS FOUND TRAPPED IN THE LINES OR FILTER & NO EVIDENCE OF A FUEL SPILL WAS FOUND, THOUGH THE ACFT WAS EXTENSIVELY DMGD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_FTW91FA028.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- 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 …
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