- Date
- January 24, 1990, 13:40 local (18:40 UTC)
- Place
- Galveston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5483VNorth American P-51-D
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900124001079A
- Case key
- 22969
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot in command's failure to obtain a weather briefing. Ontributing to the accident was his inadequate inflight planning and the resultant low fuel state.
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
Following a cross country flight, the pilot arrived in the area of his destination to find the weather below minimums. He diverted to another airport in the area and attempted two approaches, but was unable to break out due to the weather. The weather at the time was 100 foot ceiling with .1 mile visibility in haze and fog. After the second missed approach, the pilot advised ATC that he was running low on fuel and did not have enough to execute a third approach or divert to another airport. He subsequently elected to ditch the airplane in the nearby gulf of Mexico. The pilot departed fort lauderdale, Florida without receiving a weather briefing and did not obtain any weather information en route.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5483V
- Reported as
- North American P-51-D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4473518N
- Engine
- Packard V-1650-9, 1,650 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Whittington Bros. Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,800 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 100 ft
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GLS, 4 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.