- Date
- December 19, 1984, 04:00 local (12:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tonopah, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N51SACessna 402B TS
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841219067919A
- Case key
- 40098
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Analysis
While cruising at 1600 ft MSL on top of clouds, a loss of power in the left eng occurred. The plt attempted to restart the eng, but was unable. He feather the eng while diverting to tonopath, NV. The acft would not maintain alt using 1 eng. The last reported wx at Tonopah was 400 ft broken, 800 ft overcast. Over Tonopah, the plt made a descending spiral in IMC. During the descent, icing conditions were encountered. The acft broke out of the clouds at about 400 ft AGL (at night), but the plt could not see the arpt. He still could not maintain alt & made a forced landing with the gear retracted. An exam of the left eng revealed no preimpact failure or malfunction. An exam of the left fuel selector bowl revealed signs of microbiological growth. Also, there was heavy microbiological growth on the left fuel filter. Water & microbiological growth were found in the left fuel tank. STC SA117NW required the addition of anti-icing & anti-biological additives to the fuel. No addivtue was used at the previous refueling.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51SA
- Reported as
- Cessna 402B TS
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B0339
- Airframe hours
- 9,400
- Engine
- Allison 250C20B-17, 400 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Hawkins Air, doing business as hawkins air
- Registered owner
- Victor L. Hawkins
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1984 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- LAS · Las Vegas, NV
- Destination
- RNO · Reno, NV
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TPH · Tonopath
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
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,900 total · 60 in this make and model · 1,550 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 27 °F
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 N51SA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.