NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR12CA166
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
A loss of engine power during takeoff due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot’s selection of an empty fuel tank prior to departure.
Factual narrative
The engine lost power after takeoff, and the pilot landed in a nearby field. Both wings collided with fence posts. The pilot reported to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that the left fuel tank was about 1/4-full, and the right fuel tank was empty. He had the left fuel tank selected on start up and taxi. As he did his pretakeoff run up checks, he switched fuel tanks per his normal procedure. He did not return the selector valve to the left tank prior to departure. The engine lost power after takeoff and the pilot landed in a nearby field, where both wings collided with fence posts. The pilot reported that the left fuel tank was about 1/4 full and the right fuel tank was empty. He had the left fuel tank selected during start up and taxi. As he did his pre-takeoff engine run-up checks, he switched fuel tanks per his normal procedure but did not return the selector valve to the left tank prior to departure. Both wings sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Fuel system-Fuel selector/shutoff valve-Incorrect use/operation - C
- C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid management - C
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Fence/fence post-Contributed to outcome
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2012_WPR12CA166.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
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