- Date
- July 22, 1996, 15:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Myers, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1623XCessna 210L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 4, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960722019129A
- Case key
- 38057
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
failure of the pilot (PIC) to ensure that an adequate preflight inspection was performed; a missing (or loose) fuel cap on the left wing; probable fuel siphoning; and fuel exhaustion, which resulted in a loss of engine power and a subsequent forced landing (ditching) in a river.
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
On final approach, the airplane's engine lost power, and a forced landing was made in a river about 2.5 miles from the runway. The recovery crew that had retrieved the airplane from the river, reported that they 'drained no fuel' from the airplane's fuel tanks. The only fluid that the recovery crew found in the fuel tanks was 'river water.' When the airplane was lifted from the river, the left wing fuel cap was missing, and the fuel selector valve was found positioned to the 'left' wing tank. The PIC (pilot-in-command) stated that he checked the fuel caps and fuel level during preflight inspection. However, the copilot indicated that the fuel level and caps were not adequately checked during the preflight, because 'there was nothing available for them to use to reach the top of the aircraft wing.' There were no other breaches found throughout the fuel system. The airplane's engine was operationally checked, and no discrepancies were found during the test run.
Factual narrative
On July 22, 1996, about 1515 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 210L, N1623X, registered to Gallops Inc., Tampa, Florida, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, positioning flight, en route from St. Petersburg, crashed in the vicinity of Fort Myers, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The two commercial pilots were not injured.
On final approach to runway 13, the pilot stated, that the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot elected to land in a river, and impacted the water about 2.5 miles from the runway. The airplane was being repositioned and was returning to Fort Myers empty.
According to the FAA inspector's statement, the recovery crew that had retrieved the airplane from the river, reported that they "drained no fuel" from the airplane's fuel tanks. The only fluid that the recovery crew found in the fuel tanks was "river water." There was no entry on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that indicated the amount of fuel onboard the airplane at takeoff.
The airplane's owner told the FAA inspector, "...that when the aircraft was lifted from the river the left hand wing fuel cap was missing." The fuel selector valve in the cockpit was found selected to the "left" wing tank. There were no other breaches found throughout the fuel system. The PIC (pilot-in-command) stated that he checked the fuel caps and fuel level during preflight inspection. The copilot told the FAA that the PIC "did not check the fuel level or caps during the preflight, because "there was nothing available for them to use to reach the top of the aircraft wing." The airplane's engine was test run. No discrepancies were found with the engine during the test run.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1623X
- Reported as
- Cessna 210L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21060659
- Engine
- Continental IO-540-L, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gallops Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SPG · St Petersburg, FL
- Destination
- FMY
- Airport
- FMY · Page Field, runway 13, 4,997 × 150 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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,000 total · 700 in this make and model · 210 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY, 3 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.
Other investigations on N1623X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.