- Date
- February 26, 1992, 08:17 local (16:17 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Hughes, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9YTCessna T210N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920226004099A
- Case key
- 27455
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
Poor maintenance repair and annual inspection by the company's maintenance personnel and the pilot-in-command's misjudging altitude. Contributing to this accident was the pilot-in-command intentional stall, improper emergency procedure, selection of unsuitable terrain for the forced landing and the mountainous terrain.
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 was on a U.S. Navy mission and flown by a navy aviator; another navy aviator occupied the right front seat. While over mountainous terrain the engine sustained a catasphrophic crankshaft failure. The pilot elected to proceed towards higher terrain bypassing lower and more suitible emergency landing areas. Internal communications between the right seat occupant, a more experienced pilot, and the PIC indicated they planned to stall the airplane prior to landing on an upward sloping mountain ridge. The pilot misjudged the altitude and stalled the airplane. Both pilots were killed. The investigation revealed that the crankshaft failed due to inadequate torque of the through bolts causing fretting and galling on the crankcase halves. The engine had accured 618 hours since major overhaul and had experienced 7 vaccum pump failures due to misalignment of the crankshaft drive gear. The through bolts were removed by the operator to repair the no. 3 rosan stud 322 hours before the crankshaft failed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9YT
- Reported as
- Cessna T210N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21063474
- Airframe hours
- 3,344
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-R, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Operator
- Channel Island Aviation, Inc
- Registered owner
- Channel Island Aviation, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 4, 1992 · 22 hours before
- Departed
- NTD · Pt Mugu, CA
- Destination
- NID · China Lake, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 24
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 370 total · 42 in this make and model · 66 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.