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FTW88FA035

1987-12-07 · DALLAS, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RBD

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE RIGHT ENGINE OF THE AIRCRAFT FAILED THREE TIMES IN FLIGHT. AFTER THE LAST FAILURE NEAR THE MIDDLE MARKER THE PILOT FEATHERED THE PROPELLER. THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH POWER LINES AND THE GROUND ABOUT 400 YARDS SHORT OF RUNWAY 31 AT THE REDBIRD AIRPORT. THE RIGHT FUEL SELECTOR WAS POSITIONED TO THE LEFT REAR TANK AND THE LEFT SELECTOR WAS POSITIONED TO THE OFF POSITION. THE LEFT WING TANKS WERE INTACT AND EMPTY. BOTH ENGINES HAD FAILED DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. TWO AIRPORTS WERE OVERFLOWN THAT WERE ADEQUATE FOR LANDING AND THAT HAD FUEL AVAILABLE. THIS WAS THE CO-PILOT'S FIRST FLIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_FTW88FA035.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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