- Date
- October 6, 2011, 07:15 local (12:15 UTC)
- Place
- Wolfe City, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9448XCessna 210A
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 18, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20111006021959A
- Case key
- 82003
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
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's improper fuel management.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot departed his private airstrip and was en route to a local airport to purchase fuel when the engine lost power. In an attempt to restart the engine, the pilot moved the fuel selector from the left wing tank to the right wing tank and turned on the boost pump. He was unable to restart the engine and made a forced landing to a cow pasture. During the landing sequence, the airplane impacted a dirt embankment. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall and fuselage. A quart of fuel was drained from the left wing tank and 16 gallons of fuel was drained from the right wing tank.
Factual narrative
The pilot departed his private airstrip and was en route to a local airport to purchase fuel when the engine lost power. In an attempt to re-start the engine, the pilot moved the fuel selector from the left wing tank to the right wing tank and turned on the boost pump. He was unable to re-start the engine and made a forced landing to a cow pasture. Postaccident examination of the damaged airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall and fuselage. A quart of fuel was drained from the left wing tank and 16 gallons of fuel was drained from the right wing tank.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9448X
- Reported as
- Cessna 210A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21057748
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-470 SERIES, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Spradling T Glenn Jr
- Registered owner
- Spradling T Glenn Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Campbell, TX
- Destination
- PVJ · Bonham, TX
- Flight plan
- Unknown
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 395 total · 71 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 28, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 521 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.