Piper PA-28-151 accident near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, October 15, 1988
On October 15, 1988 at about 3:50 pm local time, a Piper PA-28-151, registered N5378F, was substantially damaged in an accident near Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Cedar Rapids airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 15, 1988 · about 3:50 pm local time
- Place
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa · Cedar Rapids · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-151 · all PA-28-151s on the register
- Registration
- N5378F · no longer on the register · serial 28-7715114
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
WHILE CONDUCTING A PART 135 AIR TAXI OPERATION, THE PILOT SAID HIS ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH ABOUT 7 MILES FROM HIS DESTINATION APT. EMERGENCY PROCEDURES WERE INITIATED AND A CALL TO THE CONTROL TOWER DECLARING AN EMERGENCY WAS MADE. UNABLE TO REACH THE APT, THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED ABOUT 1 MILE SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. POST ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE ENGINE FAILED DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE ACFT HAD BEEN CONVERTED TO A LARGER, MORE POWERFUL ENGINE WITH SUBSEQUENT INCREASED FUEL CONSUMPTION.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,113 hours in all; 89 in this make and model; 278 in the last 90 days; 85 in the last 30 days; 865 as pilot in command; 440 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, August 15, 1988; 50 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,325 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-360-A1A (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Tibben Flight Lines INC
The flight
- Departed from: MKC Kansas City MO at 2:15 pm
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 13, 5,450 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 190° at 13 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 66°F (19°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:50 am from CID, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.