MIA86LA226
1986-08-03 · SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport SIG
N914DF has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (GLASAIR SPORTSMAN GS-2, built 2019), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE ACFT HAD BEEN IN THE AIR FOR ABOUT 1 HR & WAS APRCHING THE ARPT. WHILE ON FINAL APRCH, THE ENG QUIT & THE PLT RADIOED 'MAYDAY,MAYDAY,FUEL EXHAUSTION' & DITCHED THE ACFT IN THE WATER. THE CFI PLT STATED THAT HE CHECKED THE FUEL SUPPLY BY LOOKING AT THE FUEL GAGES BEFORE HE & HIS STUDENT TOOK OFF & THEY REGISTERED ABOUT 1/4 FULL. FUEL TANK CAPACITY IS ABOUT 26 GALS. 1/4 TANKS WOULD BE ABOUT 6 GALS. NORMAL FUEL CONSUMPTION IS ABOUT 6 GALS PER HR. THE CFI STATED THAT AFTER THE DITCHING, HE OBSERVED FUEL IN ONE TANK AFTER REMOVING A FUEL CAP. HE ALSO STATED THAT HE LOOKED INTO THE COCKPIT AFTER THE DITCHING & SAW 'EVERYTHING WAS STILL IN THE GREEN' HE LATER STATED THAT HE DID NOT KNOW THE REASON FOR THE ENG FAILURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1986_MIA86LA226.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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