Superstition Air Service Cessna TU206G accident
Cessna TU206G · Accident: fire/explosion en route
From SDS · Scottsdale, AZ to SDS · Scottsdale, AZ
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX86LA112
- 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 TU206G
- 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
- N5340X
- Operator
- Superstition Air Service
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From SDS · Scottsdale, AZTo SDS · Scottsdale, AZ
- 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
- Fire/explosion
- 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
- Exhaust system, stack › Loose
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
WHILE RETURNING FROM GRAND CANYON, AZ, 14 CFR 135 SIGHTSEEING FLT TO SCOTTSDALE, AZ, THE PLT REPORTED THE ACFT EXPERIENCED A POWER LOSS; ALL OTHER INSTRUMENT INDICATIONS WERE NORMAL. THE PLT ENRICHED THE MIXTURE AND CHANGED FUEL TANKS BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE PLT ELECTED TO DIVERT TO PULLIAM ARPT (FLG), FLAGSTAFF, AZ. AFTER TURNING THE ACFT TOWARDS FLG SMOKE BEGAN TO ENTER THE CABIN AREA FROM BENEATH THE INST PANEL. AFTER SECURING ALL ELECTRICAL POWER THE SMOKE DIMINISHED MOMENTARAILY. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE ENGINE BEGAN TO LOSE MORE POWER AND THE CABIN BEGAN TO FILL UP WITH SMOKE. THE PILOT ELECTED TO LAND IN AN OPEN FLD. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE ACFT STRUCK 3 FENCE LINES AND A DIRT EMBANKMENT. EXAM OF THE ENGINE DSCLSD THE NO. 1 CYLINDER AFT ATTACH EXH STUDS HAD SHEARED OFF AND THE FWD STUDS ATTACH NUTS WERE LOOSE.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX86LA112
- Event ID
- 20001213X32882
- Case number
- LAX86LA112
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (5)
- 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: 105f1a5ec3f9f84064abf11998caf59719c2eeefbc3d2af46c804ee3a9ea7f76; retrieved 2026-09-18T20:08:14.261Z.
- Corrected after a review of the NTSB narrative, which states these values explicitly: destination. The narrative states the air taxi sightseeing flight was "RETURNING FROM GRAND CANYON, AZ ... TO SCOTTSDALE, AZ"; SDS, Scottsdale, is the record's own departure airport.