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LAX93LA158 · Boeing A75L3

21 Mar 1993 · Carlsbad, CA, United States

Boeing A75L3 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) on approach

From Caravelas Airport (CRQ) to Caravelas Airport (CRQ)

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Event

NTSB case
LAX93LA158
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Boeing A75L3

Aircraft type
Boeing A75
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N58969
Operator
Robert A. Bach · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Caravelas Airport (CRQ)To Caravelas Airport (CRQ)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Approach · VFR pattern downwind
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Fuel exhaustion
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Fluid, fuel › Exhaustion
  • Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Refueling, not performed

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN THE LANDING PATTERN WHEN THE PILOT REPORTED TO CONTROLLERS IN THE CONTROL TOWER THAT THE ENGINE HAD QUIT. THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH A BERM SHORT OF THE RUNWAY WHILE ATTEMPTING A POWER OFF FORCED LANDING ON THE RUNWAY. FAA AIRWORTHINESS INSPECTORS EXAMINED THE AIRCRAFT. THEY REPORTED THAT THE FUEL SYSTEM WAS INTACT, WITH NO BREAKS OR LEAKS DETECTED. NO FUEL WAS FOUND IN THE TANKS OR SYSTEM LINES, AND, ONLY RESIDUAL FUEL WAS FOUND IN THE FUEL GASCOLATOR. IN A STATEMENT TO FAA INSPECTORS THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE FLEW FIVE SEPARATE FLIGHTS ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT TOTALLING TWO HOURS AND 50 MINUTES. THE PILOT SAID HE BEGAN THE DAY WITH A FULL FUEL TANK AND USED THE FUEL GAGE TO QUANTIFY THE FUEL REMAINING IN THE TANK. FUEL WAS AVAILABLE AT THE AIRPORT THE PILOT WAS OPERATING FROM.

Probable cause

THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION IN THAT HE FAILED TO REFUEL THE AIRCRAFT PRIOR TO DEPARTURE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX93LA158
Event ID
20001211X12014
Case number
LAX93LA158
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1993-03-22.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 4f5ce20920669955a3d8ac34828a78f65f0d79e3afb6b802cdbd86e4ec9b6c73; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:30:17.466Z.