NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX87LA163
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
AFTER TAKE-OFF, THE PILOT WAS FLYING A DOWNWIND DEPARTURE WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT. THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO RETURN TO THE RUNWAY AND COLLIDED WITH THE TERRAIN A HALF MILE FROM THE AIRPORT. INSPECTION OF THE ENGINE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT FOUND THAT THE MAIN FUEL LINE TO THE CARBURETOR CONTAINED NO FUEL. THE LEFT TIP TANK WAS FOUND TO CONTAIN A QUARTER OF A TANK OF FUEL, THE LEFT MAIN WAS THREE QUARTERS FULL, THE RIGHT MAIN WAS FULL AND THE RIGHT TIP WAS EMPTY. THE PILOT STATED HE WAS FLYING ON THE LEFT MAIN. THERE WAS NO OTHER DISCREPANCIES NOTED AT THAT TIME. THE ENGINE WAS THEN RUN FOR SEVERAL MINUTES AT DIFFERENT POWER SETTINGS, THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS NOTED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1987_LAX87LA163.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.