FTW91LA167
1991-09-27 · LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport LCH
Current FAA registration · N34980
- Make / Model
- CESSNA 177B
- Year of manufacture
- 1974 · 17 years old at event
- Engine
- LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 4 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19740904
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A3E246
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO PERFORM A COMPLETE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION WHICH RESULTED IN A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION AS A RESULT OF INADEQUATE FUEL SUPPLY.
Factual narrative
A PRIVATE PILOT AND HIS SON DEPARTED THE AIRPORT FOR A SHORT, SCENIC, LOCAL NIGHT FLIGHT. APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR AFTER DEPARTURE, THE PILOT REPORTED ON MODIFIED RIGHT BASE TO RUNWAY 33 FOR A FULL STOP LANDING. THE ENGINE FAILED AND A FORCED LANDING WAS INITIATED BY THE PILOT. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK A GUIDE WIRE WHEN THE PILOT TRIED TO FLY BENEATH AND AVOID POWER LINES, AND THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE GROUND. BOTH FUEL CELLS WERE FOUND TO BE EMPTY. THE PILOT STATED THAT FOUR HOURS AND FIFTY FOUR MINUTES OF FLIGHT TIME HAD ELAPSED SINCE HE AIRCRAFT WAS LAST SERVICED WITH FUEL. HE HAD ESTIMATED HE HAD TWO HOURS OF FUEL REMAINING PRIOR TO DEPARTING ON THE HOUR LONG FLIGHT. HE STATED HE DID NOT USUALLY CHECK HIS FUEL SUPPLY PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_FTW91LA167.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
- Kathryn's Report Aviation press ↗
- Aviation Herald Aviation press ↗
- AVweb Aviation press ↗
- Pilots of America Community ↗
- Reddit /r/flying Community ↗
- FlightAware Aviation press ↗
- AOPA accident database Aviation press ↗
- Google News News ↗
- DuckDuckGo News ↗
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 …