SEA85LA066 · Cessna TU206F
Cessna TU206F · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) en route
From Prince Rupert Airport (CYPR) to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's departure or destination. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- SEA85LA066
- 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 TU206F
- 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
- N1539U
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route Possible conflict
- From Prince Rupert Airport (CYPR), Prince RupertTo Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Seattle, WA
- 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
- En route · descent
- 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)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Fuel exhaustion
- 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
- Fuel system, cap › Leak
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, compliance with ad, poor
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE ACFT LANDED SHORT OF RWY 13R AT BOEING FLD FOLLOWING A LOSS OF PWR DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE ACFT WAS TOPPED OFF FOR A TTL OF 108 GALS OF FUEL BEFORE THIS THIRD LEG OF A X-COUNTRY FLT. THE PLT STATED THAT THE ENG CEASED OPERATING EN ROUTE, HOWEVER, PWR WAS REGAINED WHEN THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS SWITCHED FROM THE RIGHT TO THE LEFT MAIN TANK. WHILE BEING VECTORED FOR AN ILS APCH TO TACOMA ARPT, THE ENG CEASED OPERATING ONCE AGAIN. UPON BREAKING OUT OF THE OVERCAST THE PLT SPOTTED BOEING FLT AND ATTEMPTED THE LANDING THERE. BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT MAIN AN AUX TANKS WERE FOUND EMPTY AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND FUEL STAINS WERE VISIBLE BEHIND THE REFUELING CAPS ON BOTH MAIN TANKS. THE RIGHT MAIN FUEL CAP WAS TESTED AND FOUND TO LEAK SEVERLY. THE LEFT FUEL CAP TESTED NORMAL. AD 84-10-01 WHICH ADDRESSES LEAKAGE AROUND THE FILLER CAPS WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN COMPLIED WITH 2 DAYS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE BLADDER IN THE LEFT MAIN TANK WAS FOUND STUCK UP AROUND THE NECK OF THE FILLER OPENING.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record SEA85LA066
- Event ID
- 20001214X35802
- Case number
- SEA85LA066
- 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 1985-02-24.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 64c36294c5f93b82c25926cb8f8d46390842b76ed61e3b3afd211d8837148039; retrieved 2026-09-23T18:33:15.912Z.