# NTSB ATL96LA081: Cessna 210, N9432T, Knoxville, TN, April 27, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: April 26, 1996, 21:54 local (Apr 27, 1996, 01:54 UTC) - Place: Knoxville, TN - Coordinates: 36.000049, -83.910247 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.0000&lon=-83.9102&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 3 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 16, 1996 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 3724 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ATL96LA081 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/3724/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL96LA081 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to heed known operating information by not correcting the flight attitude to prevent fuel unporting during a prolonged slipped descent. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of engine power, approach - vfr pattern - final approach - fluid,fuel - starvation (cause) - maneuver - not corrected, pilot in command (cause) - Forced landing, emergency descent/landing - In flight collision with terrain/water, emergency descent/landing ## Analysis During a long descent to a straight-in landing approach, the engine quit. Appropriate emergency procedures were applied by the pilot without successfully restarting the engine. The pilot's flight planning indicated that fuel remained in the tanks, which was discovered during the wreckage examination. He also stated that he believed the engine starved of fuel because of unporting fuel from the tank pickup tube during the slipped descent, referencing a Cessna safety supplement on the subject. During the post accident examination of the engine, no fuel was found in the gascolator. ## Factual narrative On April 26, 1996, about 2154 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 210, N9432T, collided with the ground during a forced landing at Knoxville, Tennessee. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. There were no injuries to the pilot nor the two passengers, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Origination of the flight was Altoona, Pennsylvania, at 1830, on the same evening. According to air traffic control personnel, the airplane was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan until about 12 miles northeast of the Downtown Island Airport, Knoxville. At that time the pilot canceled the instrument flight plan. Subsequently, he reported a loss of engine power while on final approach to the airport. The airplane crashed in a field about 400 yards east of the airport. The pilot stated that he believed the engine quit when fuel was unported from the tank outlet because of the nose down, slipped flight attitude he used to reach the runway. An examination of the engine did not reveal any malfunction that would have precluded normal operation of the engine. The FAA inspector who examined the airplane reported in a telephone conversation on May 1, 1996, that no fuel was found in the gascolator. A telephone conversation on the same day with Cessna personnel revealed that with approximately six gallons of useable fuel in each wing, as occurred during this flight's landing approach, it was possible to starve the engine of fuel. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N9432T](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9432T-2013-04-26), registration cancelled 2013-04-26, S/N 57232, built 1960 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 210 - Registry model: [Cessna 210](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-210) (registry code 2073402) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental I0-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-i0-470-series) (registry code 17027, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 57232 - Airframe hours: 3570 - Engines: Continental IO-470-E 260 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Business, Part 91 - Registered owner: Douglas J. Geiser - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, December 22, 1995, 53 hours before - Departed: AOO, ALTOONA, PA - Destination: DKX - Flight plan: IFR ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 40; commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 1,295 total, 322 in this make and model, 1,264 as pilot in command, 57 in the last 90 days, 35 in the last 30 days, 5 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night/dark - Wind: 320° at 13 knots, gusting 17 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 63 °F, dew point 43 °F - Altimeter: 29.00 inHg - Observed at: TYS, 15 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19960426016579A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960426016579A), Apr 26, 1996: Cessna 210, Knoxville, TN, Substantial damage. On approach lost power. Landed short of runway. Unported fuel from tank outlet, nose down attitude. Engine starved. ## Other investigations on N9432T (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB CHI67F0320](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI67F0320), Mar 23, 1966: Cessna 210 (N9432T), Paxton, IL, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.