- Date
- September 2, 1991, 11:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Calexico, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2580SCessna C-210
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910902037479A
- Case key
- 27348
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 non-mechanical loss of engine power due to fuel starvation from the pilot's improper use of the fuel supply.
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 reported a loss of engine power during a descent shortly after switching fuel tanks from the right tank to the left tank. The airplane landed short of the runway and nosed over into a river. Examination of the fuel tanks revealed no fuel was present in the right fuel tank and about 20 gallons of fuel and water were noticed in the left fuel tank. There was no evidence of a mechanical malfunction with the engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2580S
- Reported as
- Cessna C-210
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21061333
- Airframe hours
- 2,518
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520H, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert S. Sheldon
- Registered owner
- Robert M. Thacher
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 11, 1991 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- L22 · Yucca Valley, CA
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
- 69
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,106 total · 114 in this make and model · 900 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IPL, 1 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.