FTW95LA264 · Cessna 404
Cessna 404 · Accident: partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during initial climb
From Almaty International Airport (ALA) to Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW95LA264
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Cessna 404
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 404
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N36998
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Almaty International Airport (ALA)To Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB), Pueblo, CO
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Fbo personnel › Maintenance, service of aircraft/equipment, improper
- Fluid, fuel grade › Incorrect
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE PILOT INSTRUCTED THE LINEMAN TO SERVICE THE AIRPLANE WITH 50 GALLONS OF 100-LL AVIATION GASOLINE. AFTER THE AIRPLANE WAS REFUELED, THE PILOT DRAINED THE FUEL SUMPS AND NOTED A CLEAR, BLUE-COLORED FUEL THAT 'SMELLED LIKE GASOLINE.' SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, BOTH ENGINES LOST POWER AND THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT. HE THEN MADE AN INTENTIONAL WHEELS-UP FORCED LANDING. BOTH THE FIXED BASE OPERATOR AND THE LINEMAN STATED THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN INADVERTENTLY SERVICED WITH JET-A FUEL. THE PILOT NOTED THE FUEL TRUCK THAT SERVICED THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A JET FUEL NOZZLE, BUT UTILIZED A STRAIGHT TIP NOZZLE INSTEAD.
Probable cause
FBO PERSONNEL IMPROPERLY SERVICED THE AIRCRAFT WITH JET FUEL. A FACTOR WAS THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR A FORCED LANDING.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW95LA264
- Event ID
- 20001207X03721
- Case number
- FTW95LA264
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1995-06-27.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 964e36721ea698d82d42d724011270e81287bf6eb58155e9deb0392586537068; retrieved 2026-09-18T17:59:50.375Z.