- Date
- August 18, 2003, 16:53 local (21:53 UTC)
- Place
- San Antonio, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N139RCCessna 210D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20030818029149A
- Case key
- 57741
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 pilot's failure to comply with the checklist resulting in a wheels up landing. Contributing to the accident was self-induced pressure.
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 pilot landed the airplane with the landing gear in the retracted position. The airplane slid to a stop and a post-impact fire erupted. The airplane was number 2 to land behind a transport category airplane, and a transport category airplane was on final approach behind the airplane. The 3,806-hour pilot did not extend the landing gear according to the checklist sequence as he was keeping the airplane's speed up, and planning to land the airplane beyond the touchdown point of the landing transport category airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 18, 2003, at 1653 central daylight time, a Cessna 210D, single-engine airplane, N139RC, landed wheels up on runway 12R at the San Antonio International Airport (SAT), San Antonio, Texas. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under Code of Federal regulations Part 91. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight, and a flight plan was not filed. The personal flight departed Deming, New Mexico, approximately 1230 mountain daylight time.
The pilot reported that N139RC was cleared to land behind a transport category airplane. The 3,806 hour-pilot did not extend the landing gear according to the checklist sequence, as he planned to land N139RC beyond the touchdown point of the transport category airplane. The controller requested that the pilot of N139RC keep the airplane speed up due to an MD-80 on final approach for runway 12R. The pilot landed N139RC without extending the landing gear, and the airplane slid before coming to rest. A post-impact fire erupted.
The FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, reported that the airplane's touchdown point was approximately 1,800 feet beyond the threshold of runway 12R. Subsequently, the airplane slid approximately 500 feet, rupturing the fuel drain on the bottom of the fuselage, before coming to rest with the gear retracted. Thermal deformation occurred to the cowling, firewall, the windshield, the left main cockpit door, and the window. The leading edge of the left wing sustained thermal deformation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N139RC
- Reported as
- Cessna 210D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21058487
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Arthur M. Friedman
- Registered owner
- Arthur M. Friedman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- DMN · Deming, NM
- Destination
- SAT · San Antonio, TX
- Airport
- SAT · San Antonio International, runway 12R, 8,502 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 3,806 total · 3,640 in this make and model · 48 in the last 90 days · 34 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.