NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX91LA161
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THAT THE PILOT FAILED TO PROPERLY PREFLIGHT THE AIRPLANE AND MISCALCULATED THE AIRPLANE'S FUEL CONSUMPTION. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS FUEL EXHAUSTION.
Factual narrative
THE FLIGHT ORIGINALLY DEPARTED BRACKETT AIRPORT, LA VERNE, CA, AND FLEW TO BIG BEAR CITY, CA, AND THEN TO VAN NUYS, CA. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE DEPARTED WITH FULL TANKS. THE FLIGHT THEN DEPARTED VAN NUYS TO RETURN TO BRACKETT. ABOUT 10 MINUTES INTO THE FLIGHT THE PILOT REPORTED TO BURBANK TOWER THAT THE AIRPLANE RAN OUT OF GAS. DURING THE SUBSEQUENT FORCED LANDING THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A RESIDENCE. EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE DISCLOSED NO EVIDENCE OF ANY FUEL IN THE TANKS AND ONLY TRACES OF FUEL IN THE ENGINE FUEL SYSTEM. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_LAX91LA161.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor
Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
AOPA Air Safety Institute safety advisor on preventing fuel-exhaustion and fuel-starvation accidents in general aviation. Covers pre-flight fuel planning, reserve requirements (14 CFR 91.151, 91.167),…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents
An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safet…
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other
Parachuting to Safety
NASA's Langley Research Center awarded Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to research and develop a new, low cost, lightweight recovery system …
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