NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX88FA256
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT FAILED TO FOLLOW THE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES AS OUTLINED IN THE PILOT OPERATING HANDBOOK BY SWITCHING THE FUEL SELECTOR TO THE FULLEST TANK. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS FUEL EXHAUSTION OF THE RIGHT WING TANK AS A RESULT OF FUEL SIPHONING.
Factual narrative
A CESSNA T210M CRASHED INTO A RESIDENTIAL ROOF AFTER A LOSS OF ENG PWR, DURING CRUISE DESCENT TO ENTER ARPT TRAFFIC PATTERN. THE RIGHT WING FUEL TANK AND HEADER TANK WERE EMPTY. THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE WAS FOUND WEDGED IN THE RIGHT TANK POSITION. FUEL STAINS WERE VISIBLE ON THE RIGHT WING EMANATING FROM SEVERAL FUEL TANK ACCESS PANELS. THE LEFT WING FUEL TANK HAD SUFFICIENT FUEL FOR THE PILOT TO REACH THE DESTINATION. THE EMERG PROCEDURE OUTLINED IN THE PILOT OPERATING HANDBOOK DIRECTS THE PILOT TO SWITCH TO THE FULLEST TANK. THE PILOT STATED WHEN HE REALIZED HE COULD NOT MAKE THE INTENDED FORCED LANDING AREA HE ATTEMPTED TO LAND IN A SCHOOL YARD. HE THEN OVERSHOT THE SCHOOL YARD. THE ACFT WAS CONFIGURED WITH THE LANDING GEAR DOWN AND THE FLAPS UP. EMERGENCY PROCEDURE RECOMMENDS 30 DEGS OF FLAPS FOR A FORCED LANDING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1988_LAX88FA256.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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