Cessna 210E N4933U

Summary

On 9 July 2005 at about 15:50 local time, a Cessna 210E registered N4933U, operated by Dale Q. Walkup, was involved in an accident near La Gygne, Kansas, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 July 2005 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

La Gygne, Kansas, United States

Coordinates

38.1283, -94.7481

Aircraft

Cessna 210E

Registration

N4933U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Dale Q. Walkup

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gardner → Ozark

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05LA178

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the throttle control cable which resulted from wear followed by fatigue cracking. A factor associated with the accident was the corn crop which the airplane contacted during the forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was landed in a corn field following a loss of engine power while in cruise flight. The pilot reported that upon reaching 7,500 feet he was adjusting the engine to cruise power, when the engine went to idle. He reported that he pulled the throttle out, pushed it back in and got a "little power surge." He stated that there was no change in power when he adjusted the throttle a second time. The pilot reported, "I attempted a third time and it came out of the dash (about a foot)." He reported that he threaded the cable back into the instrument panel and established communications with air traffic control. The pilot was given a vector to the closest airport and upon reaching an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 feet, realized the airport was too far away and that he needed to pick a field in which to land. The pilot stated he selected a corn field and made a "textbook" landing, but the airplane "weathervaned" shortly after touching down. The pilot stated, "I informed them [air traffic control] that the airplane looked to be in pretty good shape, not realizing the amount of damage that corn can do to sheet metal!" The throttle cable was removed from the airplane and examined at the National Transportation Safety Board's Materials Laboratory. Examination revealed that both the stranded cable and the inner spring failed as a result of wear followed by fatigue cracking. Both the brass tube end of the assembly and the inner plunger showed an area of wear. The source of the wear could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.