LAX85LA082
1984-12-23 · PHOENIX, Arizona, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
N51FM has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CIRRUS DESIGN SR22T, built 2020), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE PLT PLANNED TO FLY FROM SANTA ANA, CA. TO SCOTTSDALE, AZ. THE PLT REPORTED THAT THE ACFT HAD ENOUGH FUEL FOR 4 HRS OF FLYING TIME. THE ACFT'S FUEL GAGES ARE LOCATED ON THE WINGS & A FLASHLIGHT IS REQUIRED TO SEE THEM AT NIGHT. THE PLT STATED THAT HE WAS CARRYING AN OPERATIVE FLASHLIGHT, BUT HE DID NOT USE IT TO LOOK AT THE FUEL GAGES BECAUSE HE WAS CERTAIN HIS ACFT CONTAINED ENOUGH FUEL FOR THE FLT. AFTER FLYING FOR ABOUT 3.5 HOURS AND 12 MI FROM THE INTENDED DESTINATION, THE ENGINE SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER. THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A FORCED LANDING ON A ROAD.ON APPROACH THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH A TREE. THE POST-CRASH EXAM OF THE ACFT REVEALED ITS FUEL TANKS TO BE VIRTUALLY DRY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1984_LAX85LA082.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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