Cessna 310I N8170M

Summary

On 24 August 2017 at about 20:00 local time, a Cessna 310I registered N8170M was involved in an accident near Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 August 2017 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

South Valley Rgnl (U42)

Coordinates

40.5958, -111.9883

Aircraft

Cessna 310I

Registration

N8170M

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Salt Lake City → Salt Lake City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR17LA187

1 person had minor injuries.

A loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during engine start and run up, the left engine shut down twice when the throttle was reduced to idle, and during the engine run-up magneto checks, the engines ran rough with greater than normal losses in rpm. The pilot advanced the throttles and leaned the mixtures to both engines to “clear” what he thought was “carbon buildup on the sparkplugs” and the engines subsequently ran smoothly at idle. The pilot departed, and during the initial climb, noticed that the airplane did not accelerate as normal. The pilot reduced the angle of attack to aid in acceleration and noticed that both engines indicated fluctuations in power, fuel flow, and rpm. He confirmed that the propeller and throttle levers were full forward, and he placed the auxiliary fuel pump to “high.” The airplane continued to decelerate and began to yaw to the left. The pilot banked right and feathered the left propeller, but the airplane continued to descend, and the pilot reduced the mixture controls to idle-cutoff. The airplane impacted two power poles and the ground before skidding to a stop adjacent to a building. A postaccident fire ensued. Examination of the engines revealed dark and sooty deposits on the sparkplug electrodes, consistent with a rich fuel/air mixture ratio. Additionally, the left engine tachometer generator cannon plug was separated and undamaged. It is possible that this plug disconnected during the takeoff and would have resulted in a tachometer indication of a loss of left engine power. It is likely that the left engine fuel flow was not properly adjusted by maintenance personnel when the engine was installed earlier the month of the accident, which created an overly rich fuel-air mixture and resulted in the repeated loss of left engine power during ground operations; however, the reason for the loss of power during the takeoff and the airplane's inability to gain altitude/airspeed during the initial climb could not be determined based on the available information.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.