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FTW90FA013 · Cessna 414

19 Oct 1989 · San Antonio, TX, United States

Eglin Aero Club Cessna 414 · Accident: partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure) during initial climb

From Lackland Air Force Base (SKF) to Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS)

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Event

NTSB case
FTW90FA013
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
General aviation
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 414

Aircraft type
Cessna 414
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
N5820H
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Lackland Air Force Base (SKF), San Antonio, TXTo Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS), EGLIN AFB, FL
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 91: General Aviation
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 (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
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Hydraulic system, line › Chafed
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, installation, improper
  • Pilot in command › Aircraft weight and balance, exceeded
  • Propeller system/accessories, hydraulic pitch ctl › Leak

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of San Antonio, TX, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL, THE PLT WAS ADVISED BY TOWER THAT HE WAS TRAILING SMOKE. HE DISREGARDED THE RPT AS HE HAD SEEN SMOKE BEFORE AND THOUGHT IT WAS A NORMAL CONDITION. HE CONTINUED THE TAKEOFF. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE ACFT EXPERIENCED A THRUST LOSS OF THE RT ENG. AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO RETURN TO THE ARPT, BUT IT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF SINGLE ENG PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION DUE TO A 9.4% OVER GROSS CONDITION AND THE PLT'S FAILURE TO RAISE THE GEAR AND FEATHER THE RT PROP. THE PLT EXECUTED A FORCED LANDING INTO A VACANT LOT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE THRUST LOSS WAS A RESULT OF THE FAILURE, DUE TO CHAFFING, OF THE RT UNFEATHERING ACCUMULATOR HOSE WHICH HAD BEEN MISROUTED DURING ENG INSTALLATION. THE ORIGINAL SMOKE OBSERVED BY THE PLT WAS DUE TO CRACKS IN THE RT EXHAUST SYS WHICH ORIGINATED FROM PREVIOUS WELD REPAIRS DURING ENG INSTALLATION. NEITHER CONDITION HAD BEEN IDENTIFIED BY OPERATOR MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL.

Probable cause

THE FAILURE OF THE RIGHT PROPELLER UNFEATHERING ACCUMULATOR HOSE DUE TO IMPROPER INSTALLATION AND CHAFFING, AND THE PILOT'S OPERATION OF THE AIRPLANE BEYOND ITS ENGINE OUT PERFORMANCE CAPABILITY. FACTORS WERE INADEQUATE COMPANY MAINTENANCE, AND THE PILOT'S CONTINUED OPERATION WITH KNOWN MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS, AND IMPROPER EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record FTW90FA013
Event ID
20001213X29598
Case number
FTW90FA013
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: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: d6f5f9a1c2fa84e92d5fcd13792057dd42b839706634912966b6dbaf66c45701; retrieved 2026-09-21T15:48:04.592Z.