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LAX90LA247

1990-07-08 · SANTA YNEZ, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport IZA

N8663A has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BOEING 737-8H4, built 2015), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

AN ENGINE FAILURE DUE TO FUEL LEAKAGE FROM A RUPTURED DIAPHRAM IN THE CARBURETOR; FAILURE OF THE AIRCRAFT OWNER TO COMPLY WITH THE MANUFACTURER'S RECOMMENDED COMPONENT OVERHAUL INTERVALS.

Factual narrative

THE AIRCRAFT WAS PERFORMING 'S' TURNS ON FINAL TO ALLOW SPACING FOR A GLIDER DEPARTURE. AS THE PILOT ADDED THROTTLE THE ENGINE FAILED TO RESPOND AND THE AIRCRAFT LANDED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY IN A HILLY BRUSH COVERED AREA. THE CARBURETOR WAS FUNCTIONALLY TESTED TO MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS, HOWEVER, IT WAS FOUND TO BE ON THE RICH SIDE. FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE UNIT REVEALED THAT FUEL WAS LEAKING INTO THE INTAKE AIR SECTION OF THE CARBURETOR FROM A CRACKED RUBBER DIAPHRAM. ACCORDING TO BENDIX, THE CARBURETOR SHOULD BE OVERHAULED AT THE SAME TIME THE ENGINE IS OVERHAULED. DETAILED REVIEW OF THE MAINTENANCE RECORDS DISCLOSED NO EVIDENCE THAT THE CARBURETOR WAS OVERHAULED DURING THE LAST ENGINE OVERHAUL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_LAX90LA247.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 (engine failure, maintenance). All research papers