LAX93LA363

The pilot was returning to his point of departure after a cross country trip of about 500 nautical miles. While on a straight-in landing approach about 300 feet above the ground, the engine suddenly quit. The pilot made a forced landing short of the runway in soft terrain. The nose gear was sheared off and the main landing gear and fuselage were damaged. Subsequent examination of the engine revealed that when placed on a test stand, it functioned normally.

On July 24, 1993, about 2028 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 210A, N9520X, crashed during a forced landing at Salinas Municipal Airport, Salinas, California. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross country flight to Salinas when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Fresno Air Terminal, Fresno, California, about 1920 hours.

The pilot reported that at 300 feet above the ground (AGL), while on about a 3 mile straight-in final landing approach to runway 31, the engine suddenly quit. The pilot was unable to glide to the runway and selected a forced landing area of soft terrain. During touch down, the nose gear was sheared off and the airplane received damage to the main landing gear and fuselage.

The pilot holds a private pilot certificate with airplane single engine land, airplane multi engine land, and instrument - airplane ratings. The most recent third class medical certificate was issued to the pilot on January 22, 1993, and contained the limitation that the pilot must wear corrective lenses for distant vision and possess glasses for near vision.

According to the pilot/operator report submitted by the pilot, his total aeronautical experience consists of 1,341.5 hours, of which 60 hours were accrued in the accident aircraft make and model. In the preceding 90 and 30 days prior to the accident, the report lists a total of 37 and 17 hours, respectively, flown. In addition, the report lists a total of 4.1 hours accrued in the previous 24 hours.

The airplane had accumulated a total time in service of about 4,670 flight hours. Examination of the maintenance records revealed that the most recent annual inspection was accomplished on July 22, 1993, 2 days and about 5 flight hours before the accident.

The engine had also accrued a total time in service of about 4,670 hours of operation. The maintenance records note that a major overhaul was accomplished on May 24, 1992, and accrued about 120 hours of operation before the accident. An annual inspection was accomplished on the date specified above for the airframe.

After the engine was overhauled on May 24, 1992, it was removed after 28.7 hours of operation and inspected due to a propeller strike. On October 22, 1992, the engine was reinstalled and returned to service. An engine oil analysis conducted on April 13, 1993, revealed no abnormal wear.

Fueling records at Salinas established that the aircraft was last fueled on July 23, 1993, with the addition of 34.8 gallons of 100LL octane aviation fuel. The airplane has a fuel capacity of 65 gallons. The pilot reported that after fueling the airplane, he flew from Salinas to Carson City, Nevada, to Sacramento, California, to Fresno, California, and he returned to Salinas where the engine quit.

The route distance is about 500 nautical miles. The pilot reported that both fuel tanks indicated 1/4 before the engine quit. He also indicated that he departed Fresno for the flight to Salinas with 35 gallons of fuel on board.

The pilot reported that the engine and fuel system were examined by maintenance personnel at Air Trails, Inc., Salinas, California, following the accident. They reported that fuel was available to the engine. The fuel boost pump functioned normally. The fuel strainer was not contaminated. The magnetos functioned normally and were properly timed. The engine was then removed from the airframe.

On August 4, 1993, the engine was installed on a test stand at Mid Valley Aviation, Los Banos, California. An operational check of the engine revealed normal fuel flow and power output from idle power to full throttle.