# Incident 19970213005089I: Cessna 210M, Tulare, CA, February 13, 1997

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 13, 1997, 09:00 local time
- Place: Tulare, CA
- Airport: Mefford Field Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 36.1566° N, 119.3266° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at MEFFORD FLD (TLR), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.1566&lon=-119.3266&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6895B, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N6895B-2017-02-16) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 210M (registry code 2073450, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-210m) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-520 series (registry code 17032, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 210M
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,070 total, 1,030 in this make and model, 50 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970213005089I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: ON 02-13-97, PHILLIP GARY BALMAT, ACTING AS PILOT IN COMMAND OF CESSNA 210, N6895B, WAS COMPLETING A FLIGHT FROM STOCKTON, CA, VIA MERCED, TO TULARE,CA. WHILE PREPARING TO LAND AT MEFFORD FIELD ON RUNWAY 31 AT APPROXIMATELY 0900 LOCAL TIME, MR. BALMAT WAS DISTRACTED BY THE RADIO CALL FROM ANOTHER AIRCRAFT WHICH INDICATED IT TO BE DOWNWIND BUT DID NOT STATE AT WHICH AIRPORT. THE AIRPORT UNICOM HAD WARNED OF OTHER TRAFFIC CONSISTING OF AGRICULTURAL AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS OR CROP DUSTERS ALSO USING RUNWAY 31, WHICH HE WAS LOOKING FOR. FUTHER, THE WIND AS NOTED BY MR. BALMAT WHILE IN THE PATTERN, HAD HIM CONCERNED ABOUT A POSSIBLE DOWNWIND LANDING SITUATION. MR. BALMAT FAILED TO REVIEW HIS MENTAL LANDING CHECKLIST AS A RESULT OF THE DISTRACTIONS AND LANDED WITH THE GEAR UP OR IN THE RETRACTED POSITION. AS THE AIRCRAFT SLID TO A STOP, HE OPENED COCKPIT DOOR AND HAD HIS RIGHT SEAT PASSENGER OPEN THAT DOOR. AFTER THE AIRCRAFT STOPPED, MR. BALMAT SHUT OFF THE MAIN FUEL VALVE AND TURNED OFF THE AIRCRAFT MASTER AND IGNITION SWITCHES. THE PILOT AND HIS THREE PASSENGERS EXITED THE AIRCRAFT WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. AIRCRAFT DAMAGE WAS MINOR, LIMITED TO THE PROPELLER AND THE UNDERSIDE OF THE FUSELAGE.

## Other reports on N6895B (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20060212001959A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20060212001959A), Feb 12, 2006: Cessna 210M (N6895B), Long Beach, CA, Destroyed. (-23) Two dock workers witnessed the aircraft attempt to make an emergency landing on the pier, and pulled the pilot from the wreckage. Neither recalls hearing…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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