MIA94LA042
1993-12-30 · LANTANA, Florida, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport LNA
N8532G has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BOMBARDIER INC CL-600-2B19, built 2001), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S FAILURE TO OBTAIN EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE AFTER BECOMING TEMPORARILY LOST, RESULTING IN TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE DISPATCH OF THE STUDENT ON THE CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT BY THE CFI WITH AN ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME OF 22 MINUTES AFTER THE OFFICIAL SUNSET. ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE BY THE PILOT.
Factual narrative
On December 30, 1993, about 1930 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150F, N8532G, registered to Micro Aviation Inc., crashed about 5 miles south of the Palm Beach County Park Airport, Lantana, Florida, while on a 14 CFR 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a VFR flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot reported minor injuries. The flight originated from Lantana, Florida, about 3 hours 36 minutes earlier. During the return leg of the cross-country flight, the student pilot became temporarily lost and he did not obtain emergency assistance. After determining his location he proceeded to his destination but the engine failed due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a field during which the aircraft was substantially damaged. Examination of the airplane at the accident site revealed that the left fuel tank contained only a residual quantity of fuel and the right fuel tank contained about 1 pint of fuel. The airplane had been operated for 3.6 hours indicated by the Hobbs meter since fueling. The certified flight instructor dispatched the student on the two leg cross-country flight with an estimated completion time about 22 minutes after the official sunset. ON THE RETURN LEG TO THE DESTINATION AIRPORT, THE PILOT BECAME TEMPORALLY LOST AND FAILED TO OBTAIN EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE. AFTER DETERMINING HIS POSITION HE PROCEEDED TO HIS DESTINATION, BUT WHEN THE FLIGHT WAS ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT, THE ENGINE FAILED DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE CFI DISPATCHED THE STUDENT ON THE TWO LEG CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT WITH AN ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME ABOUT 22 MINUTES AFTER THE OFFICIAL SUNSET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1993_MIA94LA042.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 exhaustion). All research papers
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