- Date
- December 29, 1990, 11:23 local (18:23 UTC)
- Place
- Aspen, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1604UCessna T210N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901229056419A
- Case key
- 18062
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Fuel exhaustion induced power loss resultant from faulty fuel caps and fuel syphoning.
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
The pilot and two passengers departed englewood, CO, and flew to las vegas, NV. In 4.7 hrs. It took 80 gallons of fuel to top off the tanks. The pilot then flew to van nuys, CA, in 1.5 hrs. The tanks were topped off again, requiring 25.3 gallons. The next day, due to favorable tailwinds, the pilot and one passenger planned to fly to Aspen, CO, nonstop. During descent into Aspen after 3.4 hours of flying, the engine lost power. The pilot made a forced landing in a field 2 miles from the airport. 1.5 gallons of fuel were drained from the left tank; the right tank was empty. The airplane operator reported work had recently been done on the fuel filler caps because water had been leaking into the fuel tanks. The operator also reported fuel siphoning from the filler caps. FAA had issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking addressing these subjects.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1604U
- Reported as
- Cessna T210N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21064708
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-R, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- J. Thomas Clark Assoc., Inc.
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Destination
- ASE
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ASE · Aspen-Pitkin Co/Sardy Fld
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
- 42
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 8,661 total · 50 in this make and model · 7,711 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ASE, 2 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1604U · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.