LAX96LA323
1996-08-31 · GLOBE, Arizona, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport P13
N2059S has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SHIELD AI INC V-BAT), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
fuel starvation due to the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and improper fuel tank selection.
Factual narrative
On August 31, 1996, about 1355 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna T210L, N2059S, owned and operated by the pilot, experienced a total loss of engine power on final approach to the San Carlos Apache Airport in Globe, Arizona. The airplane collided with rough terrain adjacent to the airport and was substantially damaged. The private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed during the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Globe at 1215. The airplane was recovered from the accident site and examined. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right fuel tank. No fuel was observed in the right tank, and about 22.5 gallons of fuel was found in the left fuel tank. According to the pilot's self described partner in life, the pilot's injuries precluded him from completing the required accident report. The partner completed the form on behalf of the pilot. The partner indicated that the pilot's last biennial flight review was accomplished on February 10, 1993. An examination of the airplane's maintenance records indicated that the airplane last received an annual inspection on June 9, 1994. The partner also reported that during the 90-day period which preceded the crash, the pilot had flown the airplane for about 6 hours. The engine was shipped to Teledyne Continental Motors' manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama, where it was examined and test run under the supervision of an FAA inspector. No evidence of preimpact malfunctions was observed. The engine was successfully operated. On final approach, the pilot experienced a total loss of engine power and crashed into rough terrain adjacent to the airport. The airplane's fuel selector was found positioned to the right fuel tank. No fuel was observed in the right tank, and about 22.5 gallons of fuel was found in the left fuel tank. The engine was successfully test run. No evidence of preimpact malfunctions was observed. Maintenance records indicated that the airplane's last annual inspection was performed over 2 years earlier, and the pilot's last biennial flight review was accomplished over 3.5 years earlier. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1996_LAX96LA323.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation, maintenance). All research papers
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2026 · Journal article (IJAAA) From Reactive to Predictive: A hybrid Trust-Mediated Adoption Framework for Data-Driven Maintenance in Distributed-Authority Aviation Environments
Modern aviation maintenance operates within increasingly data-intensive technological environments, yet the operational integration of predictive maintenance into routine decision-making remains incon…
- Semantic Scholar 2026 · Article (Reliability Engineering & System Safety) Understanding human error in military aviation maintenance: The role of Performance shaping factors, cognitive workload and error orientation
- Semantic Scholar 2025 · Article (Applied Sciences) Decision-Making Framework for Aviation Safety in Predictive Maintenance Strategies
The implementation of predictive maintenance (PM) in aviation presents unique challenges due to strict safety requirements, complex operational environments, and regulatory constraints.
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (Defence Science Journal) Modelling of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Using HFACS ME Human Factors Analysis and Classification System Maintenance Extension and Bayesian Network
Aircraft maintenance is a complex task involving a skilled human workforce, spare parts, and various other resources. Human factors are an inherent element of the human workforce.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) A New Trajectory in UAV Safety: Leveraging Reinforcement Learning for Distance Maintenance Under Wind Variations
In the field of aviation, safety is a critical cornerstone, and the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems is deeply connected with this principle.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) Low-Resource Automatic Speech Recognition Domain Adaptation – A Case-Study in Aviation Maintenance
With timeliness and efficiency being critical in the aviation maintenance industry, the need has been growing for smart technological solutions that optimize and streamline the different underlying ta…