NTSB LAX90LA156 — 1990-04-27 · APPLE VALLEY, California, United States

Aircraft involved

N5664S Beech A23-19 Serious

Probable cause & findings

FUEL CONTAMINATION AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED WHILE MANEUVERING.

Factual narrative

THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF POWER DURING THE TAKEOFF INITIAL CLIMB AND CRASHED WHILE ATTEMPTING A RETURN TO AIRPORT MANEUVER. FAA INSPECTORS EXAMINED THE AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE. NO DISCREPANCIES WERE FOUND WITH THE ENGINE. THE RIGHT FUEL CAP WAS FOUND TO HAVE A BADLY DETERIORATED 'O' RING, AND WATER WAS FOUND IN THE RIGHT FUEL TANK. THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS FOUND POSITIONED TO THE RIGHT TANK. WITNESSES ON THE AIRPORT REPORTED THAT THE PILOT WASHED THE AIRCRAFT BEFORE THE FLIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_LAX90LA156.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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

NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Combined Contamination and Space Environmental Effects on Solar Cells and Thermal Control Surfaces

For spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO), contamination can occur from thruster fuel, sputter contamination products and from products of silicone degradation.