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LAX91LA313

1991-07-14 · KAHULUI, Hawaii, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N260AC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BOEING 737-800, built 2006), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT AFTER REFUELING. THE FAILURE OF THE AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURER TO PUBLISH THE REFUELING INSTRUCTIONS IN THE OPERATOR'S MANUAL, THE INADEQUATE FUEL SERVICING OF THE AIRCRAFT BY OTHER MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL AND THE FAILURE OF BOTH ENGINES FROM FUEL EXHAUSTION WERE FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT.

Factual narrative

AFTER FILLING THE AIRCRAFT FUEL TANKS WITH 52.1 GALLONS OF AVIAITON GAS THAT OVERFLOWED THE FILLER NECK, THE PILOT ASSUMED THE TANKS WERE FULL TO THEIR 156 GALLON CAPACITY, THAT SHOULD PROVIDE 5.2 HOURS OF OPERATION. AFTER OPERATING THE AIRCRAFT FOR 3.3 HOURS BOTH ENGINES FAILED FROM FUEL EXHAUSTION AND THE PILOT MADE A FORCED LANDING IN THE OCEAN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_LAX91LA313.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, fuel exhaustion, maintenance). All research papers