- Date
- October 28, 1989, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Peachtree City, GA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8444MCessna T210M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 26, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891028066279A
- Case key
- 8101
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The improper calibration of the fuel quantity gauges by maintenance personnel, which resulted in erroneous fuel quantity indications and led to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident were the unsuitable terrain conditions that existed at the forced-landing site.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane lost engine pwr on final, and was landed short of the rwy on uneven terrain. Exam of the acft revealed 1-2 qts of fuel remaining in the lt tank & 6-7 gallons in the rt tank. The lt fuel qty gauge indicated 5 gallons remaining in the lt tank. The pvt plt & the check plt stated that the lt tank was in use when the engine lost power; they noted that the 44 gal lt tank was full when they pre-flighted the acft, and that they operated on the lt tank for a total of 1 hr 40 min during the flt. According to the airframe log, the fuel gauges were recently recalibrated. The plt, who recently bought the acft, noted that the acft had previous problems with in-flt fuel siphoning which were reportedly fixed. Investigation also revealed that the left wing was from an older model 210. The airframe maintenance records contained no record of any major repairs/mods. According to NTSB files, the acft was in an accident in 1984. It was reported as scrapped to the FAA in 1985, and re-registered in 1987.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8444M
- Reported as
- Cessna T210M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 210-62045
- Airframe hours
- 713
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-R, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Release Industries, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 9, 1989 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- SAV · Savannah, GA
- Airport
- 2A9 · Falcon Field, runway 13, 4,591 × 50 ft, dirt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 57
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 329 total · 8 in this make and model · 290 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ATL, 18 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.