What happened
On October 2, 2015, at approximately 1835 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna TU206G, registration N206HL, struck terrain about one mile southeast of Fall City Airport (1WA6) in Fall City, Washington. The flight originated from Portland-Hillsboro Airport (HIO) in Oregon at approximately 1700 under visual meteorological conditions.
While the aircraft was initially operating under an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan to Boeing Field/King County International Airport (BFI), the pilot cancelled the IFR plan and proceeded under visual flight rules (VFR) toward 1WA6. The pilot had no further radio contact with air traffic control prior to the accident.
Following the impact, emergency responders located the aircraft behind the Fall City Beach Grill. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, including damaged wings and a ruptured left fuel tank. The pilot sustained one serious injury and was not fatal.
The investigation
FAA inspectors examined the wreckage at the accident site and found that the engine mounts and engine had separated from the firewall, and the nose landing gear fork had sheared.
An examination of the engine, conducted by the FAA and Continental Motors Inc., showed the following:
- The engine remained attached to the airframe via the engine mounts and sustained minor impact damage.
- The propeller assembly remained attached to the crankshaft; two blades exhibited aft bending and chordwise scratches.
- The exhaust system, induction system, and magnetos were all found to be intact and secured.
- The number 2 top spark plug showed significant combustion deposits on the electrode and a broken insulator.
- The crankshaft exhibited corrosion aft of the propeller flange, just forward of the crankshaft seal.
Aside from the condition of the number 2 cylinder top spark plug, no other mechanical anomalies were identified that would have prevented normal engine operation.