The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994               TAG: 9410160063
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WINCHESTER                         LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

CRASH REPORT: NORTH'S PILOT KNEW PLANE'S FUEL GAUGE WAS ERRATIC

A pilot who died in a March plane crash an hour after dropping off Republican Senate candidate Oliver L. North knew for more than a year that the aircraft's fuel gauge system was inaccurate, investigators say.

Bobby R. Venable was the sole occupant of the twin-engine Swearingen SA-26AT when it crashed just south of Winchester Regional Airport on the morning of March 18.

Venable, 39, of Front Royal, had dropped off North, North's aides and a co-pilot at Washington Dulles International Airport, about 40 miles from Winchester, just before the crash. Venable was employed as North's private pilot.

An investigation found the fuel line to the plane's left engine was dry and the engine had stopped, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Venable had radioed the Winchester airport minutes before the crash to say that he was beginning his approach for landing but he didn't mention problems, the report said.

The report, which summarizes information gathered by the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration and private investigators, said a flight instructor had cautioned Venable about fuel gauge inaccuracies on Swearingen planes.

Todd Rushing, the plane's co-pilot, is quoted in the report as saying that both sides of the plane's fuel quantity measuring system were sometimes inaccurate. Rushing ``reported the pilot was concerned about the situation, and could not figure out why they were erratic; however, he kept flying the airplane,'' the NTSB report said.

The report also quotes records from Venable's flight training for another type of plane in 1990. Several trainers had advised him to take recurrent training for the Swearingen, but there are no records that he did, the report said.

The FAA has yet to issue a report on the probable cause of the crash.

KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE FATALITY by CNB