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LAX83LA178

1983-04-05 · SAN LUIS OBISPO, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SBP

N15278 has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BEECH A36, built 1990), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE ACFT DEPARTED RWY 29, & AT ABOUT 200 FT AGL THE ENG WAS HEARD TO SPUTTER & SURGE. THE ACFT WAS THEN OBSERVED IN A STEEP LEFT BANK TOWARD RWY 7. THE WINGS LEVELED JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT ABOUT 100 FT SHORT OF RWY 7. ARPT POLICE PERSONNEL INSPECTED THE ACFT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ACCIDENT & FOUND THE FUEL SELECTOR POSITIONED TO THE LEFT TIP TANK. THE LEFT TIP TANK WAS EMPTY & BOTH MAINS WERE FULL. THE PLT STATED HE HAD SWITCHED THE FUEL TANK TO LEFT MAIN PRIOR TO TAKEOFF. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_LAX83LA178.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.