- Date
- September 29, 1985, 12:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Jenkinsburg, GA
- Injuries
- 17 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N551CCCessna 208
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850929047899A
- Case key
- 6897
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
As the plt & 16 jumpers deptd on a skydiving flt, the eng lost pwr at aprx 300' AGL. The acft then banked steeply left, spiraled in a steep nose dwn attitude & crashed. An exam revealed fuel in the tanks was contaminated with wtr & foreign material with the appearance of brown algae. Milky fluid (aprx 65% jet fuel & 34% wtr) was fnd in the eng fuel control, as well as iron contaminants. Dark stringy material was fnd in the fuel filters. The acft had been refueled fm 55 gal drums which contained contaminated fuel. The drums were stored upright & rain water could leak thru the filler caps. N551CC had a history of fuel contamination which on occasions caused the fuel bypass indicator to display. Rprtdly, the stall warning circuit brkr had been disengaged on other occasions, so as not to startle the jumpers; however, due to dmg, its preimpact psn could not be verified. Acft was estd to be 370 lbs ovr its max wt lmt & 1' fwd of the CG lmt. THE9 pax seats had been rmvd to haul up to 18 jumpers. Pax seat belts were not used. Lack of FAA surveillance was noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N551CC
- Reported as
- Cessna 208
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20800017
- Airframe hours
- 350
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-114, 600 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Skydiving · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · September 10, 1985 · 42 hours before
- Airport
- West Wind Sport Parachute, runway 16, 3,170 × ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 35
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,907 total · 4,308 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.