NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX91FA292
Registry · N164N
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-6A
Year of manufacture
2002
Engine
LYCOMING O-360-A1A (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20020827
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A101B6
Registrant of record
NEWKIRK THOMAS R
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
IMPROPER POSITIONING OF THE FUEL SELECTOR BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT & A PASSENGER WERE COMPLETING A PERSONAL CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT. THE PILOT ACKNOWLEDGED CLEARANCE TO LAND, THEN THERE WAS NO FURTHER COMMUNICATION FROM THE AIRPLANE. THE FINAL APPROACH SEGMENT TO THE RUNWAY WAS OVER A RESIDENTIAL & LIGHT INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS AREA. WITNESSES REPORTED THE AIRPLANE APPEARED TO BE FLYING LOW & THE ENGINE WAS NOT RUNNING. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED NEAR THE TOP OF A STAINLESS STEEL STORAGE TANK, ABOUT 35 FT ABOVE THE GROUND, 800 FT SHORT OF THE RUNWAY & 50 FT RIGHT OF THE RUNWAY CENTERLINE. THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED & THE OCCUPANTS RECEIVED FATAL INJURIES. AN EXAM OF THE FUEL SELECTOR REVEALED THAT IT WAS POSITIONED BETWEEN 'OFF' & THE RIGHT FUEL TANK POSITION. THIS POSITION WOULD NOT ALLOW ANY FUEL TO GO TO THE ENGINE. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE WAS FOUND THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_LAX91FA292.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
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