K2 Adventures Cessna TU206 accident
Cessna TU206 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) en route
From Talkeetna Airport (TKA) to Talkeetna Airport (TKA)
Event
- NTSB case
- ANC99LA083
- 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 TU206
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 206
- 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
- N126KT
- Operator
- K2 Adventures
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Talkeetna Airport (TKA), AKTo Talkeetna Airport (TKA)
- 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
- En route · cruise
- 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
- Total 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
- Pilot in command › Fuel boost pump selector position, improper use of
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, not followed
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
In cruise flight, about 2,000 feet above ground level, the pilot noticed fuel flow fluctuations, followed by a total loss of engine power. He switched fuel tanks, and placed the mixture control to the FULL RICH position. The pilot kept the electric fuel pump activated, alternately placing the fuel boost pump switch in the HIGH position, and then the LOW position. The pilot described the engine as alternately running for a few seconds, then losing power. He determined the airplane would not reach the airport, so he performed a forced landing on an off airport gravel bar. Postaccident inspection revealed the right fuel tank was empty, and the left fuel tank contained about 25 gallons of fuel. The engine was started and operated normally. The Cessna U206 pilot operating manual states: 'To ensure a prompt engine restart in-flight after running a fuel tank dry, immediately switch to the tank containing fuel at the first indication of fuel pressure fluctuation and/or power loss. Then place the right half of the auxiliary fuel pump switch in the ON position momentarily (3 to 5 seconds) with the throttle at least 1/2 open. Excessive use of the ON position at high altitude and full rich mixture can cause flooding of the engine as indicated by a short (1 to 2 seconds) period of power followed by a loss of power. This can be detected by a fuel flow indication accompanied by a lack of power. If flooding does occur, turn off the auxiliary fuel pump switch, and normal propeller windmilling should start the engine in 1 to 2 seconds.'
Probable cause
The pilot not following emergency procedures, and improper use of the electric fuel boost pump, while attempting to restart the engine in flight. A factor associated with this accident was the inadequate fuel consumption calculations by the pilot.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ANC99LA083
- Event ID
- 20001212X18920
- Case number
- ANC99LA083
- 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 1999-06-30.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 3bf3795f9b0b29d84b4eae8f2bfa997b020933426b01310f6a89ccd26dbf384b; retrieved 2026-09-18T16:55:34.960Z.