NTSB DEN90LA136 — 1990-06-17 · SALINA, Utah, United States

Current FAA registration · N9086A

Make / Model: CESSNA 170A
Year of manufacture: 1949 · 41 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR C145 SERIES (145 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19560628
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S AC900F

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N9086A Cessna 170A None

Probable cause & findings

POWER LOSS AS A RESULT OF WATER CONTAMINATED FUEL. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: AN INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION BY THE PILOT, AND ROUGH TERRAIN ENCOUNTERED DURING THE GROUND RUN, FOLLOWING THE FORCED LANDING.

Factual narrative

DURING INITIAL CLIMB AT 100 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL, THE ENIGNE LOST POWER DUE TO CONTAMINATED FUEL. THE AIRPLANE LANDED STRAIGHT AHEAD ON THE REMAINING RUNWAY, OVER RAN THE RUNWAY, AND STRUCK THE ROUGH UNEVEN TERRAIN BEYOND THE RUNWAY. THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR WAS TORN OFF AND THE LEFT WING WAS DAMAGED IN THE COLLISION WITH THE TERRAIN. DURING A POSTACCIDENT INSPECTION, MORE THAN A PINT OF WATER WAS DRAINED FROM THE GASCOLATOR AND FUEL TANKS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90LA136.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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