Skip to content

SEA92LA194

1992-09-02 · THE DALLES, Oregon, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DLS

Current FAA registration · N1005B

Make / Model
PIPER PA-46-310P
Year of manufacture
1987 · 5 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR TSIO-520 SER (300 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19871109
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A007BD

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A MISJUDGED APPROACH. FACTORS TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: INACCURATE FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS AND FUEL EXHAUSTION.

Factual narrative

DURING A BUSINESS CROSS COUNTRY FLT, THE PLT REPORTED THAT HE WAS AWARE OF A LOW FUEL STATUS WHILE EN ROUTE, BUT THOUGHT THAT HE COULD MAKE IT TO HIS FINAL DESTINATION WITHOUT STOPPING FOR FUEL. THE FLT WAS CLEARED TO DESCEND AT 96 MILES FROM THE ARPT. AT APRX 16 TO 18 MILES FROM THE ARPT, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. DURING THE DESCENT, THE PLT FELT THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS HIGH ON THE APPROACH AND EXTENDED THE LANDING GEAR AND LOWERED ONE NOTCH OF FLAPS. AT APRX ONE HALF MILE FROM THE RWY, THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO DESCEND BELOW THE INTENDED GLIDE. UNABLE TO REACH THE RWY, THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN APRX 200 FT SHORT OF THE RWY, COLLIDING WITH THE TERRAIN DURING THE LANDING ROLL. AFTER THE ACCIDENT, THE PLT REPORTED THAT HE APPARENTLY DID NOT HAVE AS MUCH FUEL ON BOARD AS HE THOUGHT HE DID BEFORE TAKEOFF, AND MISJUDGED THE APPROACH BY LOWERING THE LANDING GEAR TOO SOON. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_SEA92LA194.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers