- Date
- March 27, 1987, 14:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- San Luis Obispo, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N9306WPiper PA-28-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 2, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870327033809A
- Case key
- 25553
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
After take-off, the pilot was flying a downwind departure when the engine quit. The pilot was unable to return to the runway and collided with the terrain a half mile from the airport. Inspection of the engine at the time of the accident found that the main fuel line to the carburetor contained no fuel. The left tip tank was found to contain a quarter of a tank of fuel, the left main was three quarters full, the right main was full and the right tip was empty. The pilot stated he was flying on the left main. There was no other discrepancies noted at that time. The engine was then run for several minutes at different power settings, there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9306W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-10985
- Airframe hours
- 1,560
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B4B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Schneider, Warren G.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 5, 1987 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- SBP · San Luis Obispo, CA
- Destination
- SEE · San Diego, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- SBP · San Luis Obispo, runway 29, 4,799 × 150 ft, dirt
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 252 total · 66 in this make and model · 200 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBP, 1 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.