Accident Details
On April 19, 2017, about 1910 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 210 airplane, registration N9589T, was involved in an accident while on a visual approach to Harriet Alexander Field Airport (ANK) in Salida, Colorado. The airplane impacted a fence and irrigation equipment during an off-airport forced landing. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged.
The flight was operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight. It originated from Page Municipal Airport (PGA) in Page, Arizona, around 1700. The pilot was delivering the airplane to a new owner in Denver and planned to land at ANK for fuel.
Flight and Engine Power Loss
The pilot reported that the first hour and thirty minutes of the flight was flown with the left fuel tank selected, after which she switched to the right fuel tank for the remainder of the flight. The en route portion was uneventful. The fuel mixture was leaned during the flight and enriched to full rich as she descended.
Upon entering the ANK traffic pattern and turning onto base leg, the pilot noticed that "everything went quiet" after leveling the wings. She attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. Unable to reach the runway, she selected a field for landing. The airplane landed hard and struck a fence and irrigation equipment during the landing roll, causing substantial damage to the right wing.
Post-Accident Observations
The ANK airport manager, who assisted in removing the airplane, reported that approximately 14 to 15 gallons of fuel were drained from the right wing and about 1 gallon from the left wing prior to moving the airplane.
Engine Examination
An examination of the airframe and engine was conducted on May 5, 2017, at ANK. The upper engine cowling had been removed. A visual inspection of the engine revealed no impact damage. The wings had been removed during wreckage retrieval.
During the examination, the top spark plugs were removed and appeared normal in color and wear. Cylinders were examined with a lighted boroscope, showing intact cylinder valves with normal combustion signatures. Thumb compression was achieved when the propeller was rotated by hand. Both magnetos produced spark and the impulse couplers released normally.
A temporary fuel supply was connected to the right-wing fuel port, and fuel flow was verified. The fuel system was primed, and two attempts to start the engine failed. After verifying fuel flow to the No. 6 injector nozzle, a third attempt successfully started the engine. The engine ran at idle for several minutes, and the throttle advanced smoothly. Fuel mixture leaning at high elevation resulted in a 150 rpm increase and smoother operation. A magneto check showed a 100-rpm drop on each magneto. The engine ran smoothly until the mixture was enriched, causing rough running, but continued to run. The engine was then stopped.
It was noted that the exhaust gas temperature gauge was inoperative, the cylinder head temperature gauge indicated a single cylinder value, the fuel gauge operated normally, and the manifold gauge indicated atmospheric pressure before start but did not operate during the run.
The examination did not reveal any preimpact failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation of the engine.