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LAX89FA225

1989-06-22 · NEWHALL, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport VNY

N28LR has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SONEX AIRCRAFT SONEX, built 2008), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FUEL CONTAMINATION, DUE TO THE PILOT'S LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE AIRCRAFT FUEL SYSTEM, AND INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE. A RELATED FACTOR WAS: INADEQUATE TRANSITION TRAINING.

Factual narrative

THE PLT RPRTD TO THE TOWER CTLR THAT HE WAS EXPERIENCING ENG PROBLEMS. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, HE RPRTD THAT THE ENG HAD 'QUIT'. AS THE PLT WAS MAKING AN EMERGENCY LNDG, THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A TRANSMISSION WIRE & CRASHED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED CONTAMINANTS IN THE AIRFRAME & ENG FUEL SYSTEMS. RPRTDLY, THE PLT HAD NEVER DRAINED THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE FILTER, NOR WAS HE TOLD ABT THE DRAIN WHEN HE WAS CHECKED OUT BY THE MFG SALES REP. THE FUEL SYSTEM HAD BEEN CHECKED FOR CONTAMINANTS BY AN FBO BEFORE THE PLT DEPD ON THE ACDNT FLT. THE FUEL SERVO WAS CLEANED & THE REINSTALLING MECH DRAINED ABT 1/2 GAL OF FUEL. HE FOUND NO CONTAMINANTS, BUT HE DID NOT ENDOSCOPE THE TANKS AS RQRD BY THE MAINT MANUAL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89FA225.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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