7 Aug 2020: Cessna T210 M

7 Aug 2020: Cessna T210 M (N2245S) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Hanna, UT, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain sufficient airspeed after a partial loss of power for undetermined reasons, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall from which the pilot could not recover.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On August 7, 2020, about 1145 mountain daylight time, a Cessna T210M airplane, N2245S, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Hanna, Utah. The private pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries, and four passengers sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Flight track data showed the airplane as it departed from Roosevelt Municipal Airport (74V), Roosevelt, Utah, and climbed northwest over mountainous terrain to an altitude of 12,896 ft mean sea level (msl) during the first 20 minutes of the 25-minute flight. The flight track then showed that the airplane’s altitude decreased as the airplane approached a large canyon. The pilot reported that the airplane lost partial engine power during a turn over mountainous terrain. The pilot did not describe what actions, if any, he took to address the partial loss of engine power. The pilot stated that he decided to fly down the canyon as the propeller continued to windmill. He initiated a forced landing to an open field, where the airplane made a hard landing. The field was near the shoreline of a lake at an elevation was 8,100 ft msl, and the accident site was south and down the canyon about 7 1/2 miles. The figure below shows the accident flight track; shortly after the airplane reached the canyon, the flight track data ended. Figure. Accident flight track and accident location. An onboard video of the flight was recorded by the front-seat passenger. Shortly after the engine was started, the fuel selector handle was positioned from the right tank to the left tank. The fuel tank quantity indicator showed about 19 gallons for the left tank and about 12 gallons for the right tank. About 20 minutes into the flight, when the airplane was over the lake, the sound the engine rpm increased momentarily and then began to fluctuate at a lower rpm. The sound of the engine then slowly decreased through to the end of the video recording. The pilot prepared the airplane for a forced landing by extending the landing gear and announcing his intentions to the passengers. As the airplane approached the shoreline, the stall warning horn was heard intermittently before the airplane banked to the left and impacted terrain. A screenshot of the instrument panel at that time showed that the rpm gauge indicated about 1,600 rpm, the manifold pressure gauge was at 19 inches of mercury, and the fuel flow gauge needle was off the scale. The throttle, propeller, and mixture levers were all in the fully forward position. The pilot had his private pilot checkride endorsement on May 27, 2016, and he had about 250 hours of total flight experience. His last biannual flight review was on June 16, 2020. At the time of the accident, the pilot’s third-class medical was overdue by about 6 months. Review of the airplane’s maintenance records revealed that, on June 12, 2020, the engine had accumulated 947 hours of operation since its overhaul. The airplane had a completed a top overhaul about 30 flight hours of operation before the accident. Engine data that were downloaded from an onboard instrument revealed that the fuel flow decreased from 20 to about 16 gallons per hour. The fuel flow remained at 16 gallons per hour for about 1 minute before rising to about 18 gallons per hour before dropping again to about zero. A few seconds later, the engine rpm increases momentarily to just above 2,500 rpm and then slowly decreased to about 1,900 rpm. Calculations based on the data revealed that about 8 1/2 gallons of fuel was consumed during the flight. The accident site examination revealed that the airplane’s forward fuselage and cabin area were crushed upward and that the engine was partially separated from the firewall. Both wings were buckled near the tips. Postaccident examination of the engine and airframe revealed no evidence of preimpact malfunctions or anomalies. A sound spectrum analysis of the onboard video was performed but was unable to determine if the engine speed decrease was due to a lack of cylinder combustion or if the engine continued operating but at a reduced speed.

Contributing factors

  • Engine (reciprocating)
  • Pilot
  • Airspeed — Not attained/maintained
  • Angle of attack — Not attained/maintained

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 120/05kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.