NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MIA93LA116
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION AND POOR PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION BY THE PILOT IN COMMAND. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO REQUEST WINDS ALOFT DURING THE WEATHER BRIEFING.
Factual narrative
BEFORE DEPARTURE, 20 GALLONS OF FUEL WERE ADDED TO THE REMAINING AMOUNT FROM THE 3.7 HOUR TWO-LEG FLIGHT TO THE PLACE WHERE AN ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED. AN ENGINE RUN FOLLOWING ACCOMPLISHMENT OF AN ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED BUT THE PILOT DID NOT TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT FOR DETERMINING FUEL QUANTITY BEFORE DEPARTURE. THE PILOT RECEIVED A WEATHER BRIEFING BUT DID NOT REQUEST WINDS ALOFT. WHILE EN ROUTE, HE WAS REQUIRED TO DEVIATE AND DID NOT LEAN THE FUEL/AIR MIXTURE. WHEN THE FLIGHT WAS NEAR THE PLANNED DESTINATION, THE ENG SPUTTERED. THE PILOT IMMEDIATELY REPOSITIONED THE FUEL SELECTOR TO THE OPPOSITE TANK. THE FLT CONTINUED & WHEN IT WAS AT THE DESTINATION AIRPORT, THE FLIGHT WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RWY 23 BUT THE PILOT WAS DISORIENTED. THE PILOT STATED THE ENGINE SPUTTERED AGAIN THEN QUIT & HE ATTEMPTED TO LAND ON A TAXIWAY. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED THAT THE LEFT FUEL TANK CONTAINED ABOUT 1/2 GALLON OF FUEL. THE RIGHT FUEL TANK CONTAINED ABOUT 1/3 GALLONS OF FUEL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1993_MIA93LA116.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
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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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