- Date
- April 30, 1983, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lynchburg, VA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5286SPiper PA-28-140C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830430016829A
- Case key
- 6059
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Shortly after midnight on the morning of 4/30/83, the flt originated at blacksburg, VA. Neither the time en route nor the arrival time at gaithersburg, MD was reported. According to the plt, he departed from gaithersburg at 1050 EDT. The flt was normal until shortly after passing lexington, VA, when he discovered that the right fuel tank was empty. He diverted toward Lynchburg, VA, but the remaining fuel was virtually exhausted before arrival. After the eng quit, the plt did not move the position of the throttle or mixture control. During a forced landing on a highway, the acft struck several objects. The plt said that after impact, the eng started running & accelerated the acft across the road, thru a fence & into a residential yard. During the occurrence, the wings were damaged by a road sign & a tree, the right gear collapsed & several mail boxes & a vehicle were damaged. The plt noted that the rgt fuel gauge was inaccurate & the eng quit after aprx 4 hrs. At 75% power acft would use 33.4 gal. Usable fuel, 36 gal.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5286S
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-26914
- Airframe hours
- 4,763
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Hokie, Flying Club, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 10, 1983 · 37 hours before
- Departed
- GAI · Gaithersburg, MD
- Destination
- VPI · Blacksburg, VA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- LYH · Lynchburg Municipal
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 302 total · 20 in this make and model · 131 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ROA, 37 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.