NTSB SEA90LA013 — 1989-11-12 · HILLSBORO, Oregon, United States

Aircraft involved

N8470W Piper PA-28-180 None

Probable cause & findings

FUEL CONTAMINATION AND THE PILOTS LACK OF PEFLIGHT INSPECTION. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE SOFT TERRAIN.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT TWO DAYS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT, HE HAD FUELED THE AIRPLANE FROM AND UNFILTERED BARREL. ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, THE PILOT HAD INTENDED TO JUST REPOSITION THE AIRPLANE FROM THE RAMP TO A HANGAR BECAUSE OF RAIN SHOWERS THE DAY BEFORE. AFTER THE PILOT STARTED THE ENGINE, WITHOUT PERFORMING A PREFLIGHT, DECIDED TO FLY THE AIRPLANE AROUND THE PATTERN TO DRY IT OFF. A NORMAL RUN-UP WAS PERFORMED AND THE LEFT FUEL TANK WAS SELECTED. AFTER TAKEOFF AT APPRX 300 FT AGL, THE ENGINE QUIT. A RESTART WAS ATTEMPTED WITH NO SUCCESS. THE AIRPLANE WAS FORCED LANDED IN A SOFT FIELD. AFTER THE ACCIDENT, THE PILOT WHO IS AN A&P MECHANIC DRAINED THE LEFT FUEL TANK AND INSPECTED THE GASCOLATOR. BOTH WERE FOUND TO CONTAIN WATER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_SEA90LA013.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel contamination). All research papers

NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Combined Contamination and Space Environmental Effects on Solar Cells and Thermal Control Surfaces

For spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO), contamination can occur from thruster fuel, sputter contamination products and from products of silicone degradation.