- Date
- April 18, 1986, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- El Paso, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4881VBellanca 17-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860418014769A
- Case key
- 22016
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
The eng quit due to fuel starvation. The acft had been flown 2.6 hours on the main tanks. Normal operating time on the main tanks is 2.5 hours according to the owner's manual of the Bellanca viking 300 series. At the crash site the main tanks were found empty and the aux tanks were full. The plt had failed to switch from the main tanks to the aux tanks. No evidence of eng malfunction was found to exit when examined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4881V
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20123
- Airframe hours
- 1,293
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Benny F. Papridge
- Registered owner
- Benny F. Papridge
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 28, 1986 · 14 hours before
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
- 66
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,058 total · 477 in this make and model · 7,055 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots, gusting 12
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ELP, 6 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.