Cessna T210M N761SZ

Summary

On 12 December 2016 at about 02:15 local time, a Cessna T210M registered N761SZ was involved in an accident near Mecca, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 December 2016 at 02:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Mecca, California, United States

Coordinates

34.0667, -115.9700

Aircraft

Cessna T210M

Registration

N761SZ

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Centennial → Thermal

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

WPR17LA036

1 person was seriously injured.

The total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation during approach, which necessitated a gear-up landing on unsuitable terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he had the fuel tanks filled before departing for the cross-country flight, and he confirmed that they were full during the preflight inspection. During the flight, the fuel meter indicated a flow rate of between 12 and 15 gallons per hour. When the pilot was descending the airplane for the approach to his destination, he noted that both fuel tank gauges were reading just below 1/4 tank and that the fuel totalizer was showing about 22 gallons were remaining. He then switched from the right to the left tank. Subsequently, the engine lost all power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine, so he chose to conduct a gear-up landing in hilly terrain about 10 miles east of the airport, which resulted in substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The flight time from the time of departure to the loss of engine power was about 5 hours. During examination of the airplane 1 month after the accident, no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded the normal operation. An unspecified amount of fuel was found in the wing tanks; however, the fuel line between the right header tank and selector valve was breached. Therefore, it is likely that any fuel remaining at the time of the accident drained out of the breached fuel line at the accident site. According to the engine manufacturer, assuming the fuel tanks were full at takeoff and using the time elapsed from takeoff to the loss of engine power and the fuel burn rate during before the flight, it was estimated that the airplane likely had about 10 to 15 gallons of fuel in the tanks when the engine lost power. Given the evidence, it is likely that the engine lost power due to fuel starvation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.