NTSB CAROL · Event
Event MKC89LA106
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOTS FAILURE TO PROPERLY CALCULATE FUEL CONSUMPTION WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADEQUATE FUEL RESERVE AND FUEL EXHAUSTION PRIOR TO REACHING HIS DESTINATION. DURING THE ENSUING FORCED LANDING THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTANT STALL INTO TREES WHILE TRYING TO FLY TO THE RUNWAY. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOTS FAILURE TO PERFORM A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING AT A CLOSER AIRPORT WHEN HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT SAID THAT DURING THE LAST LEG OF A STUDENT, SOLO CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP, THE ENGINE BEGAN TO TO MIS-FIRE ABOUT 25 MILES FROM HIS DESTINATION ARPT. HE APPLIED CARB HEAT AND RICHENED THE MIXTURE, WHICH RESTORED NORMAL ENGINE OPERATION. ABOUT 6 MILES FROM DESTINATION, THE ENGINE ONCE AGAIN BEGAN MISSING AND APPLICATION OF CARB HEAT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. ABOUT 3 MILES FROM THE DESTINATION ARPT, THE ENGINE FAILED COMPLETELY. AN EMERGENCY LDG WAS ATTEMPTED ON THE ARPT, BUT THE AIRCRAFT STALLED AND CRASHED SOUTHEAST OF THE INTENDED RUNWAY. THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREE TOPS, THEN STRUCK THE WET, MARSHY TERRAIN AND OVERTURNED. POST ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE ENGINE STOPPED DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE ACFT HAD BEEN AIRBORNE FOR APRX 1 HOUR SINCE THE LAST TAKEOFF POINT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_MKC89LA106.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 (stall, 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.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- arXiv 2021 · arXiv preprint
Investigation of flow field of clap & fling motion using immersed boundary coupled lattice Boltzmann method
This paper deals with the investigation of flow field due to clap and fling mechanism using immersed boundary coupled with lattice Boltzmann method.
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