# NTSB SEA02LA141: Cessna 210L, N732EK, Cascade, ID, July 30, 2002 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 30, 2002, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC) - Place: Cascade, ID - Coordinates: 44.536666, -115.35083 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=44.5367&lon=-115.3508&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 3 uninjured - Status: Completed, report April 8, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA Flight Standards District Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 55364 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA02LA141 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/55364/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=55364 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA02LA141 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to maintain the proper rate of descent on short final resulting in a touchdown short of the runway threshold. Contributing factors were the variable winds and swampy terrain at the touchdown site. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Undershoot, approach - vfr pattern - final approach - weather condition - variable wind (contributing factor) - proper descent rate - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - Gear collapsed, landing - roll - terrain condition - swampy (contributing factor) ## Analysis The pilot was on short final to runway 28, a 3,300 foot gravel-turf runway, when he encountered a sink and the aircraft began to rapidly settle. He applied power but the aircraft touched down 70 feet short and 30 feet left of the runway centerline and in a swampy/marshy area. Immediately following the touchdown the Cessna 210L's main gear collapsed and the nose gear separated. The pilot reported that immediately following the accident, he observed winds at the airstrip varying 5-10 knots in speed and shifting from a westerly to an easterly direction. ## Factual narrative On July 30, 2002, approximately 1100 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 210L, N732EK, registered to and being flown by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when it landed short of runway 28 at the Sulphur Creek Ranch private airstrip (ID74) approximately 30 nautical miles east of Cascade, Idaho. According to the report of an individual who had been contracted to recover the aircraft from the airport, the pilot and two passengers on board the aircraft were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions, with calm winds, were reported at McCall, Idaho, at 1050, and the aircraft was on a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan from Bend, Oregon, to Sulphur Creek Ranch for the 14 CFR 91 personal flight. According to the recovery contractor's report, the pilot stated that he was on a normal approach when he hit "sinking air" and that all of a sudden, the aircraft sank and it felt like the "lift had disappeared." The contractor reported that the pilot told him that he added power and landed short of the runway. The aircraft touched down approximately 70 feet short and 30 feet left of the runway. During the landing roll the main gear collapsed and the nose gear separated. The pilot reported that immediately following the accident he noted that the winds at the airstrip were varying 5-10 knots in speed and shifting from a westerly to an easterly direction. He also noted that the aircraft came to rest in a large swampy/marshy area adjacent to the runway. The most recent published airport master record (FAA Form 5010) for the airstrip, dated July 10, 1992, showed the airstrip as consisting of a single east/west, gravel-turf runway. The runway was reported as 3,300 feet in length and 40 feet wide. A remark states that the airstrip is operationally restricted to landings to the west and takeoffs to the east. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N732EK](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N732EK-2013-02-21), registration cancelled 2013-02-21, S/N 21061455, built 1976 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 210L - Registry model: [Cessna 210L](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-210l) (registry code 2073448) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 21061455 - Airframe hours: 2697 - Engines: Continental TSIO-520 285 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Richard T. Benson - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, July 15, 2002, 4 hours before - Departed: S07, Bend, OR - Destination: ID74, Cascade, ID - Flight plan: VFR - Airport: ID74, Sulphur Creek Ranch, runway 28, 3,300 × 40 ft, gravel ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 52; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; last flight review August 11, 2001; seat: left; flight hours: 2,046 total, 1,355 in this make and model, 1,982 as pilot in command, 16 in the last 90 days, 8 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 66 °F, dew point 48 °F - Altimeter: 30.11 inHg - Observed at: MYL, 39 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20020730018689A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020730018689A), Jul 30, 2002: Cessna 210L, Cascade, ID, Substantial damage. (-23) On short final with everything normal, the aircraft suddenly settled. Pilot added full power but could not arrest the descent. Aircraft landed short of… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 30, 2002, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=55364. 356 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 356 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40465162&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.