NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX91LA272
Registry · N1029H
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
PIPER PA-28-181
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19761221
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A00FBD
Registrant of record
ANDERSON THOMAS E
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO THE PILOTS IMPROPER FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS AND INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT SAID HE HAD THE AIRCRAFT REFUELED TO MAXIMUM TANK CAPACITY PRIOR TO DEPARTING FROM SACRAMENTO AT 1720 HOURS. THE AIRCRAFT FLEW TO ALTURAS, WHERE IT LANDED AT 1920 HOURS. AFTER A BRIEF STOP TO DEPLANE ONE PASSENGER, THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED ALTURAS AT 1945 HOURS FOR THE REMAINING LEG OF THE FLIGHT TO PALO ALTO. AT 2154 HOURS, THE ENGINE QUIT WHILE THE AIRCRAFT WAS OVER THE RIO VISTA AIRPORT. THE PILOT SAID HE ATTEMPTED A POWER OFF FORCED LANDING AT THE AIRPORT AND OVERSHOT THE RUNWAY. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED LONG, RAN OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY AND THROUGH TWO FENCES. THE RIO VISTA FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY TO THE ACCIDENT SITE. ACCORDING TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL WHO ARRIVED AT THE SCENE, NO FUEL REMAINED IN THE TANKS AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF FUEL SPILLAGE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_LAX91LA272.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 …
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗