NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX86LA110
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
ON FEB 9, 1986 AT 1717 PST A PIPER PA-23, N5300Y, DITCHED APPROXIMATELY 460 NM SW OF SFO, CA. THE FLT ORIGINATED FROM HNL, HI. IN FLT FUEL LEAK WAS DISCOVERED AFTER 7 HRS OF FLIGHT. FUEL VAPORS WERE SEEN CONTRAILING OFF BOTH WINGS. THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO ISOLATE THE LEAK AND WAS UNABLE. THE CROSSFEED SELECTOR AND ACFT FUEL SELECTOR BECAME DIFFICULT TO MOVE. THE SOURCE OF THE FUEL LEAK WAS LOCATED EITHER IN THE WING OR IN THE CROSSFEED SYSTEM. THE ACFT DITCHED AFTER 9 HRS 45 MIN OF FLT DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1986_LAX86LA110.txt.
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- 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 …
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