Incident Overview
On March 8, 2022, at 1417 mountain standard time, a Cessna P210N airplane, registration N210GE, was destroyed in an accident near Englewood, Colorado. The pilot and a flight instructor both sustained minor injuries. The airplane was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
Flight Details
The airplane was equipped with two wing fuel tanks, each capable of holding about 44 gallons of usable fuel, and an auxiliary fuel tank in the aft baggage compartment capable of holding about 30 gallons. According to ADS-B data, the accident flight lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. The pilot reported departing with 118 gallons of fuel onboard. The pilot's operating handbook indicated expected fuel consumption of 18–20 gallons per hour during cruise, totaling approximately 36 gallons for the flight.
Accident Sequence
The airplane was established on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 35R at Centennial Airport. The tower controller instructed the crew to sidestep to runway 35L, which required extending the glide path due to offset thresholds. As the pilot attempted to increase engine power, the engine did not respond. Attempts to restore power by activating the auxiliary fuel pump and switching fuel tanks were unsuccessful. Unable to glide to the runway, the flight instructor executed a forced landing about half a mile short of the runway. The airplane landed in the grass median between traffic lanes of an interstate highway and came to rest on a steel-cable safety barrier. A postimpact fire ensued.
Post-Accident Examination
The airplane sustained impact damage to the forward fuselage and both wings. The postimpact fire consumed portions of the fuselage, cockpit/cabin area, and right wing. Postrecovery examinations of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies consistent with an inability of the fuel-injected engine to produce rated power. However, examination of the airframe fuel system was hindered by the extent of the fire damage.
No probable cause was stated in the initial report.