LAX91LA240 · Piper PA38-112
Piper PA38-112 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) en route
From Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) to Auburn Municipal Airport (AUN)
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's departure or destination. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX91LA240
- 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
Piper PA38-112
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA38
- 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
- N9283T
- Operator
- James A. Fikes · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route Possible conflict
- From Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), Fresno, CATo Auburn Municipal Airport (AUN), Auburn, CA
- 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
- En route · climb to cruise
- 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
- Pilot in command › Fuel consumption calculations, poor
- Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, poor
- Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, poor
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE INITIATING PIC ELECTED TO PUT MINIMAL FUEL ON BOARD FOR THE PLANNED FLIGHT TO COLUMBIA AIRPORT, COLUMBIA, CA. THE CFI WHO WAS GOING TO OCCUPY THE LEFT FRONT SEAT AGREED. UPON APPROACHING COLUMBIA THE INITIATING PIC ATTEMPTED TO CALL THE UNICOM BUT RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. THE INITIATING PIC WITH THE CONCURRENCE OF THE CFI DIVERTED TOWARDS CALVERAS COUNTY AIRPORT. THE INITIATING PIC ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT CALVERAS COUNTY UNICOM BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE CFI ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE AIRPLANE AND DIVERTED TOWARD STOCKTON. WHILE APPROACHING STOCKTON THE ENGINE SUSTAINED A TOTAL LOSS OF POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE CFI ELECTED TO LAND IN AN OPEN CROP FIELD. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE SOFT TERRAIN DURING THE LANDING ROLL-OUT.
Probable cause
THAT THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND USED POOR PREFLIGHT PLANNING, INFLIGHT DECISION, AND FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS FUEL EXHAUSTION.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX91LA240
- Event ID
- 20001212X17296
- Case number
- LAX91LA240
- 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 1991-06-03.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 4bbfc858e5527a1c96b6bdd21c24e40673d80057dcb3d30a6aa7640c0d55a1b6; retrieved 2026-09-23T04:07:36.031Z.