NTSB FTW85LA353 — 1985-09-20 · PLAINVIEW, Texas, United States

Current FAA registration · N1994T

Make / Model: PIPER PA-28R-200
Engine: LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19710810
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A18C90

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N1994T Piper PA-28R-200 None

Factual narrative

THE ACFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED DURING AN EMERG LANDING FOLLOWING AN ENG FAILURE DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. PLT STATED THAT DURING THE 2ND LEG OF HIS FLT, THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY DETERIORATED TO THE POINT THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO FIND THE ARPT AT HIS DESTINATION AND THAT HE USED UP HIS FUEL RESERVE LOOKING FOR IT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE ACFT FLEW 4.2 HRS TO COVER A STRAIGHT LINE DISTANCE OF 269.5NM THAT WOULD NORMALLY TAKE AN ETE OF BETWEEN 1.63 HRS AND 1.73 HRS. THE WEATHER THROUGHOUT THE AREA WAS MARGINAL VFR TO BELOW VFR MINIMUMS. DURING WEATHER BRIEFING, PLT WAS WARNED THAT VFR WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED WITHIN 5 NM OF THE DESTINATION ARPT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_FTW85LA353.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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