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MKC90LA021

1989-11-02 · SAINT PAUL, Minnesota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport STP

N3174S has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SOUTHERN POWERED PARACHUTES CONDOR, built 2003), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FUEL. DARKNESS WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Factual narrative

DRG AN EMERGENCY MEDICAL SVC (EMS/MEDEVAC) FLT, THE PLT ENCTRD STRONGER HEADWINDS THAN EXPECTED. AFTER DELIVERING A PATIENT, HE ESTIMATED 12 MIN OF FUEL WAS REMAINING. SINCE THE FLT TO HIS HOME BASE WOULD TAKE ABOUT 6 MIN, HE ELECTED TO RETURN WITHOUT REFUELING. WHILE ARRIVING ABEAM OF HIS DESTN, A FUEL BOOST PUMP LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE PLT SAID HE EXPEDITED HIS APCH, BUT AT ABOUT 50' AGL, A 2ND BOOST PUMP LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE ENG THEN LOST POWER FROM FUEL EXHAUSTION. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER WAS DAMAGED DRG AN EMERGENCY AUTOROTATION (AT NIGHT). Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_MKC90LA021.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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