- Date
- January 3, 1998, 16:35 local (Jan 4, 1998, 00:35 UTC)
- Place
- Compton, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9406XCessna 210
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980103000099A
- Case key
- 30017
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 failure of maintenance personnel to adequately inspect the aircraft during an annual inspection to detect a chafed and leaking engine fuel supply line.
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
Following loss of engine power, an emergency off-airport landing was made on a city street. Examination of the aircraft revealed an abraded solid aluminum fuel line between the fuel selector valve and the engine. When the fuel selector valve was turned on, a knife-shaped stream of fuel emanated from the line. When viewed with an inspection mirror, the abraded area appeared V-shaped (grooved) and there was a hole approximately 1/16-inch diameter though the wall of the tube at the deepest part of the groove. Dried, crusty fuel stains were present on the fuel line over a distance of approximately 2 inches. Adjacent to the area of the leak there was a BNC-type antenna connector on an unused marker beacon antenna mounted on the lower fuselage. An annual and pre-buy inspection was performed on the aircraft 2.6 months prior to the accident. The hangar proprietor reported that the aircraft had leaked fuel onto the hangar floor since some time before the inspection, and the aircraft's previous owner had turned off the fuel selector to stop the leaking. The aircraft had flown approximately 10 hours since the inspection.
Factual narrative
On January 3, 1998, at 1635 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 210, N9406X, was substantially damaged when it collided with a telephone pole and two cars during an off-airport, emergency landing at Compton, California. The private pilot and one passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight which originated at Long Beach at 1627.
The pilot reported that the engine started "popping" and lost power while at 1,500 feet agl on approach to the Compton airport. He did not have sufficient engine power to reach the runway and landed on the city street about 2 miles east of the airport.
Examination of the aircraft by the Safety Board revealed an abraded solid aluminum fuel line between the fuel selector valve and the engine. When the fuel selector valve was turned on, a knife-shaped stream of fuel emanated from the line. When viewed with an inspection mirror, the abraded area appeared V-shaped (grooved) and there was a hole approximately 1/16-inch diameter though the wall of the tube at the deepest part of the groove. Dried, crusty fuel stains were present on the fuel line over a distance of approximately 2 inches. The line was under the floor of the cabin, forward of the right front passenger seat, and aft of the firewall. Adjacent to the area of the leak there was a BNC-type antenna connector on an unused marker beacon antenna mounted on the lower fuselage.
The pilot involved in the accident had recently purchased the aircraft. An annual and pre-buy inspection was performed on the aircraft 2.6 months prior to the accident. According to the hangar proprietor, the aircraft had leaked fuel onto the hangar floor since some time before the inspection. The previous owner of the aircraft turned the fuel off at the fuel selector valve to stop the leak.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9406X
- Reported as
- Cessna 210
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21057706
- Airframe hours
- 2,359
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-E, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Edward G. Martell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 15, 1997 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- LGB · Long Beach, CA
- Destination
- CPM
- Airport
- CPM · Compton, runway 25L, 3,670 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 157 total · 10 in this make and model · 74 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGB, 6 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.