Hale County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Plainview, Texas 79072
Friday, September 20, 1985 15:17 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE ACFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED DURING AN EMERG LANDING FOLLOWING AN ENG FAILURE DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. PLT STATED THAT DURING THE 2ND LEG OF HIS FLT, THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY DETERIORATED TO THE POINT THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO FIND THE ARPT AT HIS DESTINATION AND THAT HE USED UP HIS FUEL RESERVE LOOKING FOR IT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE ACFT FLEW 4.2 HRS TO COVER A STRAIGHT LINE DISTANCE OF 269.5NM THAT WOULD NORMALLY TAKE AN ETE OF BETWEEN 1.63 HRS AND 1.73 HRS. THE WEATHER THROUGHOUT THE AREA WAS MARGINAL VFR TO BELOW VFR MINIMUMS. DURING WEATHER BRIEFING, PLT WAS WARNED THAT VFR WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED WITHIN 5 NM OF THE DESTINATION ARPT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/20/1985
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1517
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City PLAINVIEW
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79072
Event Date Year 1985
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport HALE COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PVW
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 5
Degrees magnetic from airport 225
Airport Elevation 3372
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID LBB
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 10
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2735
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 23 1985 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 30443
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 9:15AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1994T
NTSB Number FTW85LA353
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-28R-200
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28R-200
Aircraft Serial Number 28R-7135187
Certified Max Gross Weight 2650
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 19 1985 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 58
Airframe Hours 2305
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DAVID J. MCVINNIE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1143 SLEEPY HOLLOW DR.
Aircraft Owner City FORT WORTH
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76113
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name TARRANT AERO FLYING CLUB
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 18434
Operator City FORT WORTH
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 76116
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code
Departure City GUTHRIE
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --