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LAX89LA199

1989-05-20 · ARCATA, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ACV

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOTS INACCURATE FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS AND IMPROPER FUEL TANK SELECTOR POSITION. THESE RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION TO BOTH ENGINES WHEN THE AUX TANKS RAN DRY AND THE MAINS HAD FUEL REMAINING IN THEM. A FACTOR IN THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE ROUGH TERRAIN ENCOUNTERED WHEN THE PILOT WAS FORCED TO LAND SHORT OF THE RUNWAY.

Factual narrative

WHILE ESTABLISHED ON AN INSTRUMENT APPROACH, THE RIGHT ENGINE LOST POWER. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE LEFT ENGINE LOST POWER. THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO RESTART EITHER ENGINE AND A FORCED LANDING WAS MADE IN AN OPEN FIELD. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE TERRAIN. INSPECTION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE AUX TANKS WERE EMPTY. THE MAIN FUEL TANKS CONTAINED AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY AND WERE RUPTURED IN THE CRASH SEQUENCE. THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN OPERATING OFF OF THE AUX TANKS PRIOR TO THE LOSS OF POWER. THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS REPORTED WITH THE AIRPLANE OR ENGINES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA199.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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