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LAX91LA027

1990-11-11 · DANA POINT, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SNA

N30438 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (QUAD CITY ULTRALIGHT ACFT CORP CHALLENGER II, built 2003), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT NEGOTIATED THREE TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS WITHOUT REFUELING. HE INDICATED THAT THE FLIGHT TIME BEFORE DEPARTING ON THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT LEG WAS 3.4 HOURS. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT HE HAD FLOWN ABOUT 4.1 HOURS. ABOUT 35 MINUTES AFTER DEPARTING ON THE LAST LEG OF THE FLIGHT THE AIRPLANE SUSTAINED A TOTAL ENGINE POWER LOSS. DURING THE ENSUING EMERGENCY LANDING THE AIRPLANE STRUCK A PALM TREE AND CRASHED. THE PILOT TOLD RESCUE PERSONNEL THAT THE AIRPLANE RAN OUT OF GAS. THE WRECKAGE EXAMINATION DISCLOSED NO EVIDENCE OF ANY FUEL IN THE TANKS OR FUEL SPILLAGE. THE PILOT FAILED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ADDITIONAL FUEL CONSUMPTION USED WHILE EXECUTING TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_LAX91LA027.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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