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LAX89LA333

1989-09-29 · PALO ALTO, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PAO

N8272R has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SCOTTISH AVIATION SERIES 100 MDL 101, built 1972), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL STARVATION. THE FUEL STARVATION WAS THE RESULT OF VANE PARTICLES FROM THE DETERIORATED ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP RESTRICTING THE UPSTREAM FLOW OF FUEL.

Factual narrative

AFTER TAKEOFF THE FLIGHT REMAINED IN A CLOSED TRAFFIC PATTERN. ON TURN TO FINAL THE ENGINE LOST POWER AND THE AIRCRAFT LANDED IN A BAY SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. NO FUEL WAS FOUND FORWARD OF THE FIREWALL. THE FUEL STRAINER AT THE FUEL CONTROL UNIT CONTAINED SMALL DARK PARTICLES. EXAMINATION OF THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP REVEALED THAT THE VANES HAD DAMAGE AND SEVERELY RESTRICTED THE FLOW OF FUEL. THE MECHANICAL FUEL PUMP WAS OKAY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA333.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation). All research papers