- Date
- April 15, 1983, 11:14 local (19:14 UTC)
- Place
- Oceana, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5985FPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830415070269A
- Case key
- 23680
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 student plt, a mexican national, was on a solo x-country flt. He reported that he could not locate the destination arpt at san luis obispo, CA. After circling the area, he saw the Oceana arpt & started to land. While on final apch, the eng lost power. Subsequently, the acft collided with a residential trailer during an emergency landing. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right fuel tank & the right tank was empty. Fuel was still remaining in the left tank. The student had moved the fuel selector to the right tank about 1/2 hour after takeoff & had not changed its position after that.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5985F
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-77225072
- Airframe hours
- 2,886
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David Plutt & James Brittain
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 20, 1983 · 26 hours before
- Departed
- EMT · El Monte, CA
- Destination
- SBP · San Luis Obispo, CA
- Airport
- L52 · Oceano, runway 11, 2,270 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBP, 8 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.