# Accident 19981205032809A: Piper PA24, Victorville, CA, December 5, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 5, 1998, 11:15 local time
- Place: Victorville, CA
- Airport: George Afb Base Ops
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Forced Landing
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 34.6236° N, 117.3742° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs from the FAA’s distance and direction from , within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.6236&lon=-117.3742&mi=10
- Aircraft: N8086P, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8086P-2000-03-30) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-24-250 (registry code 7102404, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-24-250) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA24
- Fatal injuries: 0
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX99LA044](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX99LA044) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19981205032809A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

PILOT WAS PRACTICING ILS APPROACHES, AND THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED SHORT OF RWY.(.19)ON DECEMBER 5, 1998, AT 1056 HOURS PACIFIC STANDARD TIME, A PIPER PA-24-250, N8086P, COLIDED WITH GROUND OBSTRUCTIONS DURING A FORCED LANDING 2.5 MILES NORTH OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, VICTORVILLE, CALIFORNIA. THE FORCED LANDING WAS PRECIPITATED BY A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DURING A PRACTICE INSTRUMENT APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT.  VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME.  THE AIRCRAFT, OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE PILOT, SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE.  THE PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT, INCURRED MINOR INJURIES.  THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM THE AIRPORT AT AN UNKNOWN TIME ON THE MORNING OF THE ACCIDENT AS A LOCAL AREA PERSONAL FLIGHT.  IN A VERBAL STATEMENT, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE WAS PERFORMING A PRACTICE ILS APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT WHEN THE ENGINE LOST POWER.  HE APPLIED CARBURETOR HEAT AND SWITCHED FUEL TANKS; HOWEVER, THE ENGINE DID NOT RESTART PRIOR TO GROUND CONTACT.  THE RETRIEVAL FIRM THAT RECOVERED THE AIRCRAFT REPORTED THAT THE RIGHT MAIN FREL TANK WAS EMPTY.  THE RIGHT OUTBOARD, LEFT MAIN, AND LEFT OUTBOARD TANKS WERE FULL.                                        (-23) ON DECEMBER 5, 1998, AT 10:56 PST, MR. THOMAS M. GATES WAS LANDING AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT VICTORVILLE CA UTILIZING THE INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM (ILS). ON FINAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 17, BETWEEN THE MIDDLE AND INNER MARKERS, TWO AND HALF MILES FROM THE END OF RUNWAY 17, THE ENGINE QUIT. MR. GATES PULLED CARBURETOR HEAT THINKING THE CARBURETOR WAS ACCUMULATING ICE, BUT THE ENGINE DID NOT RESPOND. MR. GATES SWITCHED FUEL TANKS BUT BEFORE THE ENGINE COULD RESPOND THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE GROUND ONE AND A HALF MILES FROM THE END OF RUNWAY 17. AN ON SCENE INVESTIGATION THAT FOUND THE RIGHT MAIN FUEL TANK WAS EMPTY AS VIEWED THROUGHT THE FILLER OPENING. THE LEFT AND RIGHT AUXILIARY, AND LEFT MAIN FUEL TANKS, WERE ALMOST FULL. MR. GATES THE SOLE OCCUPANT, INCURRED MINOR INJURIES.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB LAX99LA044](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX99LA044), Dec 5, 1998: Piper PA-24-250 (N8086P), Victorville, CA, substantial damage. Probable cause: Fuel starvation caused by the pilot's failure to select a tank containing fuel.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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