SEA91LA231

1991-09-02 · CORVALLIS, Oregon, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CVO

Aircraft involved

N6788X Cessna 310F None

Probable cause & findings

A DISCONNECTED AIR INDUCTION LINE, AND THE PILOT'S INFLIGHT DECISION TO EXECUTE A 180 DEGREE TURN BACK TO THE AIRPORT. HIS LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN MULTI-ENGINE AIRCRAFT, HIS OVERALL LACK OF FAMILIARITY AND LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE AIRCRAFT WERE FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT.

Factual narrative

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING TAKEOFF THE PILOT EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF CLIMB PERFORMANCE AND WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHICH ENGINE WAS AFFECTED. HE CHOSE TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT AND THEN EXECUTED A 180 DEGREE TURN BACK TO THE AIRPORT. UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE HE EXECUTED A FORCED LANDING IN AN OPEN FIELD AND THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR SEPARATED AS THE AIRCRAFT CROSSED A DITCH. SUBSEQUENT TEST RUN OF THE LEFT ENGINE REVEALED A DISCONNECTED AIR INDUCTION LINE WITH DEGRADED PERFORMANCE ABOVE 60% POWER. THE RIGHT ENGINE PROPELLER BLADES EXHIBITED AFTWARD TIP CURL AND POLISHING. THE PILOT REPORTED ONLY 35 HOURS OF TOTAL MULTI-ENGINE FLIGHT TIME OF WHICH ONLY 3 HOURS WERE IN THE CESSNA 310 AND NO CESSNA 310 FLIGHT TIME WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 90 DAYS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_SEA91LA231.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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