ANC85LA017 · Cessna 310J
Cessna 310J · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route
From Juneau International Airport (JNU) to Fairbanks International Airport (FAI)
Event
- NTSB case
- ANC85LA017
- 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 310J
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 310
- 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
- N313SL
- Operator
- Chris Thomas Catalone
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Juneau International Airport (JNU), Juneau, AKTo Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), Fairbanks, AK
- 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 · 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)
- 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
- Tree(s)
- 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
- Engine assembly, other › Blocked(total)
- Lubricating system, oil line › Ice
- Object › Tree(s)
- Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper
- Pilot in command › Overconfidence in aircraft's ability
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, not followed
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE ACFT CRASHED DURING AN EMERG NIGHT LANDING AFTER THE LOSS OF PWR ON BOTH ENGINES. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE RT ENG WAS SECURED BECAUSE OF DECREASING OIL PRESSURE & A VISIBLE OIL LEAK. THERE WERE SEVEN AIRPORTS WITHIN REACH OF THE ACFT WHEN THIS ENG WAS SECURED. HOWEVER, THE PLT INFORMED THE ATC SPECIALIST AT NORTHWAY THAT HE INTENDED TO CONTINUE ON TOWARD HIS FAIRBANKS DESTINATION & WOULD LAND AT BIG DELTA IF HE HAD FURTHER PROBLEMS. THERE WERE NO SUITABLE LANDING AREAS BETWEEN TANACROSS & BIG DELTA, A DISTANCE OF 74 MILES. LATER WHEN THE PLT SECURED THE LT ENG, HE ATTEMPTED TO REACH THE ALASKA HWY BUT CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGS REVEALED THAT BOTH ENG BREATHER TUBES WERE FROZEN FULL OF ICE FOR 5 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL DISCHARGE OPENING. THE ENG NOSE CASE SEAL WAS BLOWN OUT ON THE RT ENG. THE OIL COOLER ON THE LT ENG WAS RUPTURED. THERE WERE NO PRESSURE RELIEF HOLES IN EITHER OF THE ENG BREATHER TUBES/PIPES. AN ALTERNATE BREATER TUBE WAS NOT INSTALLED.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ANC85LA017
- Event ID
- 20001214X41489
- Case number
- ANC85LA017
- 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: a75dc2f4bf5d6bdf242294239c6922ddd3f8abfddf85bc2c43831e7c57b8ffc3; retrieved 2026-09-22T02:03:11.824Z.