FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

West Air Industries Cessna 208A accident

6 Jun 1990 · Fresno, CA, United States

Cessna 208A · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route

From an unrecorded airport to Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK)

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
LAX90FA209
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 208A

Aircraft type
Cessna 208
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
N803FE
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK), Oakland, CA
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 · climb to 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 (mechanical failure)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Fluid, oil › Pressure too low
  • Lubricating system, oil filler cap › Leak
  • Pilot in command › Airspeed, misjudged
  • Pilot in command › Distance, misjudged
  • Pilot in command › Lowering of flaps, delayed
  • Unknown › Maintenance, adjustment, improper

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE ENGINE LOST OIL PRESS WHILE CLIMBING THROUGH 6,000 FT, AND THE PILOT REQUESTED TO RETURN TO HIS DEPARTURE AIRPORT. ATC INFORMED THE PILOT OF A CLOSER AIRPORT. THE PILOT SECURED THE ENGINE, FEATHERED THE PROP, AND MADE A POWER-OFF DESCENT TO THE AIRPORT. THE PILOT ELECTED TO MAKE A DOWNWIND APPROACH TO RWY 12L DUE TO HIS ALTITUDE. THE AIRPLANE OVERFLEW THE RUNWAY AND TOUCHED DOWN PAST THE DEPARTURE END. IT PENETRATED THE AIRPORT PERIMETER FENCE, STRUCK SEVERAL TREES, A SIGN POST, A LIGHT POLE, AND AN AUTO BEFORE COMING TO REST IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA. EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THE LOSS OF PRESSURE WAS DUE TO OIL LEAKING. THE OIL FILLER CAP WAS FOUND IMPROPERLY ADJUSTED AFTER THE ORIGINAL INSTALLATION. THE MAINTENANCE MANUAL DOES NOT APPROVE ANY FIELD REPAIRS ON THE OIL FILLER CAP ENGAGING MECHANISMS. THE AIRPLANE'S FLAPS WERE FOUND AT A 7 DEG INTERMEDIATE SETTING.

Probable cause

A LOSS OF ENGINE OIL PRESSURE DUE TO IMPROPER MAINTENANCE PERFORMED ON THE ENGINE OIL FILLER CAP BY AN UNKNOWN PERSON. IN ADDITION, THE PILOT MISJUDGED HIS LANDING APPROACH TO THE RUNWAY DURING THE FORCED LANDING WHICH RESULTED IN AN OVERSHOOT AND COLLISION WITH OBJECTS. A TAILWIND CONTRIBUTED TO THE OVERSHOOT.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX90FA209
Event ID
20001212X23441
Case number
LAX90FA209
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 1990-06-07.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: bc666e33c462b024e28982587f95079ee4ffb2eadaa066083d8614c75cb68595; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:02:04.607Z.