LAX83LA194

1983-04-15 · OCEANA, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport L52

Aircraft involved

N5985F Piper PA-28-140 Minor

Factual narrative

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. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_LAX83LA194.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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