The pilot departed Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (KCOS) in Colorado for Meadow Lake Airport (KFLY) in Colorado Springs, after having the Cessna 210’s oxygen system serviced.
A flight instructor who was providing instruction to a student pilot in a Cessna 150 in the pattern at KFLY stated that the Cessna 210 got in between the airplane he was in and another Cessna 150, which was trailing, for a landing on Runway 33.
The instructor felt that there was not much separation between the airplanes. The student pilot and instructor turned their airplane from the base leg on to final. The instructor thought the Cessna 210 pilot had extended his downwind to make some room between the airplanes. The instructor indicated that the winds were blowing from east to west. After the student pilot and instructor landed, they heard that the Cessna 210 had crashed south of the runway.
The pilot in the trailing Cessna 150 stated that the Cessna 210 entered on the downwind between his airplane and the other Cessna 150, which appeared to be significantly slower than the Cessna 210. He stated that the 210 flew an extended downwind leg and that, while it was turning final, it overshot the runway, increased its bank, and pitched up slightly. The airplane then hit terrain and nosed over. The pilot observed a “puff” of white smoke, a “huge fire ball,” and black smoke. The pilot said that the Cessna 210 pilot had made all “proper” radio calls, including the final turn.
A witness near the accident site said he saw the 210’s wings “wiggle” and that he thought it was going to crash. He estimated the airplane was about 30 to 50 feet above the ground when it nosed down, stalled, and dropped “straight” in, hitting terrain.
He also stated that he did not hear any engine sounds. There was no fire or smoke from the airplane when it was in the air. The nose landing gear separated on impact, and the airplane slid on the ground and subsequently caught on fire.
The wreckage was located about a mile southeast of Runway 33. The left wing, left elevator, and sections of the fuselage were melted, deformed, and discolored, consistent with ground fire. The pilot died in the crash.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and the exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during the airplane’s turn to final, resulting in an aerodynamic stall.
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This August 2020 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
We have all over shot the landing runway from base. The question is what do we do about it. Go around? Turn a shallow bank, keep the speed up, push the nose down to keep the speed up. What choices do we have.
I only hope I pick the correct choice the next time the tail wind blowers me past my final.
Or was my first bad choice not taking into that tailwind?
Low although slow overshot runway on base over banked and stalled at low airspeed. Tragic ! How many hours of training and total hours. What was the density altitude in Colorado that day?
From the ntsb report, this pilot failed his check ride for poor landings.
The aircraft also has numerous squawks on the last annual….indicating to me that the pilot wasn’t very careful on maintaining the aircraft.
Lastly, he could have sidestepped on downwind an not followed the C150, to maintain his airspeed.
I must have missed something. I saw only that compressions were low during the annual, so cylinders were replaced—hardly an indication of poor maintenance. Any owner who hasn’t been surprised by an unexpected maintenance requirement at an annual hasn’t owned an airplane for very long.
Having trouble with soft field landings during his first checkride has little to do with what happened in this accident.
My take is that this was a relatively inexperienced pilot (200 hours total) flying an airplane that requires more careful adherence to flying by the numbers than the usual trainer and is therefore much less forgiving. A 210 is not a difficult airplane to fly, but it’s decidedly less forgiving than most trainers.
check item #8 in the docket; ‘ maintenance records, last annual’.
The list was 61 squawks and repairs.