LAX85LA346
1985-08-09 · SANTA PAULA, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport SZP
Current FAA registration · N3359V
- Make / Model
- CESSNA 150M
- Year of manufacture
- 1974 · 11 years old at event
- Engine
- CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 2 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19741217
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A3AC09
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE CFI, WHO WAS A RETIRED AIRLINE CAPTAIN, AND HIS STUDENT PILOT, EMBARKED ON A ROUND-ROBIN FLIGHT WHICH INCLUDED LANDINGS AT FOUR ARPTS. THE FUEL TANKS WERE NOT COMPLETELY FILLED PRIOR TO TH INITIAL DEPARTURE AND NO ADDITIONAL FUEL WAS OBTAINED DURING THE 2.4 HOUR LONG FLIGHT. FUEL EXHAUSTION OCCURRED AT TRAFFIC PATTERN ALT, ONE MILE FROM THE DESTINATION ARPT. THE CFI WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE RWY AND LANDED IN A SANDY RIVER BED 200 YARDS FROM THE ARPT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1985_LAX85LA346.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
- Kathryn's Report Aviation press ↗
- Aviation Herald Aviation press ↗
- AVweb Aviation press ↗
- Pilots of America Community ↗
- Reddit /r/flying Community ↗
- FlightAware Aviation press ↗
- AOPA accident database Aviation press ↗
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
AOPA Air Safety Institute safety advisor on preventing fuel-exhaustion and fuel-starvation accidents in general aviation. Covers pre-flight fuel planning, reserve requirements (14 CFR 91.151, 91.167),…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR) A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents
An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safet…
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other Parachuting to Safety
NASA's Langley Research Center awarded Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to research and develop a new, low cost, lightweight recovery system …