NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX91LA240
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THAT THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND USED POOR PREFLIGHT PLANNING, INFLIGHT DECISION, AND FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS FUEL EXHAUSTION.
Factual narrative
THE INITIATING PIC ELECTED TO PUT MINIMAL FUEL ON BOARD FOR THE PLANNED FLIGHT TO COLUMBIA AIRPORT, COLUMBIA, CA. THE CFI WHO WAS GOING TO OCCUPY THE LEFT FRONT SEAT AGREED. UPON APPROACHING COLUMBIA THE INITIATING PIC ATTEMPTED TO CALL THE UNICOM BUT RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. THE INITIATING PIC WITH THE CONCURRENCE OF THE CFI DIVERTED TOWARDS CALVERAS COUNTY AIRPORT. THE INITIATING PIC ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT CALVERAS COUNTY UNICOM BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE CFI ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE AIRPLANE AND DIVERTED TOWARD STOCKTON. WHILE APPROACHING STOCKTON THE ENGINE SUSTAINED A TOTAL LOSS OF POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE CFI ELECTED TO LAND IN AN OPEN CROP FIELD. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE SOFT TERRAIN DURING THE LANDING ROLL-OUT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_LAX91LA240.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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