The pilot was conducting a third maintenance test flight at the airport in Cresson, Texas, after a new engine had been installed in the Cessna P210N.
The airplane’s co-owner and two other passengers were on board the airplane.
The airplane was full of fuel and no preflight weight and balance calculations were completed.
During the takeoff roll, the pilot rotated about 51 knots, which was 20 knots below normal rotation speed, and the airplane became airborne briefly before it settled back on the runway.
He then added nose up trim, rotated at 55 knots, and climbed slowly.
He continued to climb the airplane when the co-owner heard the stall warning horn.
The pilot made a left turn to avoid terrain at the south end of the runway and then setup for a forced landing as the airplane was unable to maintain altitude.
During the forced landing, the airplane hit trees and terrain. It sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot was seriously injured in the crash, while the three passengers sustained minor injuries.
The pilot told investigators that the airplane was overweight and that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
A post-accident weight and balance calculation determined that the airplane was about 359 pounds over the maximum takeoff weight.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to complete proper preflight performance planning and his operation of the airplane outside of the manufacturer’s specified weight and balance limitations, which resulted in the airplane’s inability to maintain altitude and an impact with trees and terrain during an attempted forced landing.
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This June 2022 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.
The FAA needs to stop issuing CFI tickets and reevaluate the training/testing of said license. Particularly the twin CFI’s since they seem to be falling out of the sky like giant Frisbee’s at an alarming rate!
Did I read the FAA document correctly, out of Annual? 18 months since last Annual Inspection?
And, no more annuals…The aircraft was deregistered….junk/ parted out, and a new engine with a prop strike…
Not sure where the overweight comments are coming from, Full fuel usable payload is 900-1000. 800 is within .And destination and purpose of the flight is irrelevant.
Pilot error sounds about right!
That may be correct for a non-pressurized 210, but this was a P210. They are heavy and don’t have the same useful load. Even if it was a non-pressurized T210, with 121 gal. of fuel and 800 lbs of passengers, that would be right at gross weight. A P210 would be well over gross. Check your facts. Even the pilot in the article admits it was over 300lbs over gross!
From the docket;
empty weight 2,800 lb , a bit heavy
121 gal fuel 726 lb
4×200 px 800 lb
total gross 4326 vs 4,000 lb gross
So, a preflight error .!
I have 40 years experience Is flying a T210, Which is the same as a P210 very apparent he was not using full power.
Install speed, it’s 57 kn (Take off speed is 66 knots sea level standard day.Max wait for this aircraft) why this article says he was 20 knots below take off speed.
The NTSB investigator needs to look at this again with an expert in aircraft type.
So based on sea level airport standard day (The pilot was not using full power)
Without all the information airport elevation temperature. This article doesn’t really make any sense.
“Without all the information airport elevation temperature. This article doesn’t really make any sense.” ?
It’s all there on the Form 6120.1; just “click” on the NTSB link…Airport elevation, 873’; Temperature, 80F; Winds180/6; Sky, Clear; Visibility, 10 miles.
As an ex-military and an airline pilot, I have observed that very experienced pilots can be dangerous especially when they do not operate small airplanes throughout their career. Being an experienced pilot does not create lift! Flying small airplanes presents many challenges that experienced pilots often overlook. Competency on a private aircraft is as important as being competent on an airliner.
1000% !!
Stupid pilot tricks!
Something I’ve noticed . . . very, very experienced pilots who have stepped down from the big iron or military sometimes regard GA aircraft as harmless toys. The above is one example, I know a guy who used to fly for (name deleted) airlines, he now flies a 210 and is careless and downright contemptuous of it. I won’t fly with him. Scott Crossfield, ex-astronaut, flew into a thunderstorm over Tennessee, fatal mistake. Anders, the ex-astronaut who took the famous “Earthrise” photo, just crashed his T-34 into a lake while doing low-level aerobatics. (But we won’t know for sure what happened here until the FAA is done investigating, so the jury is out on this one for now).
Chuck Yeager got it right when he said that a Cessna 150 was a good little airplane, it could just barely kill you. Just barely or utterly spectacularly, the result is totally equivalent. Be careful, the fact that you’ve “gotten away” with something once or even 100 times in the past is no guarantee that you will get away with it the next time you try it. Darwin is alive and well, and he is watching. I’d prefer to keep all my flying buddies (and everyone else who flies) safely out of his clutches.
Scott Crossfield was not an astronaut. He was a test pilot who made significant contributions to aviation and aeronautics. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15. Although he flew aircraft that were critical to space exploration, such as the X-15, which reached the edge of space, he did not fly above the Kármán line—the boundary of space, set at 100 kilometers (62 miles) above Earth’s surface—and thus did not earn astronaut wings.
JS, I stand/sit/fly corrected.
I do seem to recall reading somewhere that (some/all of?) the X-15 pilots were eventually awarded astronaut status. I do have a book on the X-planes, and it is VERY, VERY thorough, dates, times, altitude, pilot, results on hundreds of flights (not just X-15), and not just pretty pictures either, like so many “aviation” books. Gotta go look.
In any event, flying things like X-15s is wildly, orders of magnitude more dangerous than flying a C150, but that still doesn’t mean it is a bright idea to treat the C150 carelessly.
Be safe, and best regards.
And got no help from ATC avoiding the weather that brought him down…ATC was found partially at fault for failure to do so.
My buddy and I just finished installing a freshly overhauled FRANKLIN 220HP engine with STC in a Cessna 172 and signed-off by our AI. The first flight was Pilot only with 1/2 tanks. Remaining in the pattern I think you would call this a check-out flight just to make sure everything is working as it should……What a thrill climbing at 1500FPM.
It’s IA (Inspection Authorization), not AI. I’m starting to see this error creep in more and more. But it’s easy to understand with all the talk about AI (Artificial Intelligence) lately.
Uh. 121 gallons of fuel and 800 lbs of people? This doesn’t sound like a test flight. It sounds like they decided to send it and head somewhere with no test at all. Overweight on a 210?? Just WOW!
So many things to pick at here! Passengers on a maintenance test flight. Well overweight. Full fuel. Rotating 20 knots before the the plane was ready. Such a sad combination of foolish errors, and by an ATP/CFI. Makes you wonder how he taught his students, doesn’t it?
I’m not sure it WAS a test flight. That much fuel and 4 jumbo peeps onboard sounds like they just decided to go for it.
Four “jumbo peeps”, priceless! 😅
A fascinating element of human nature: some folks ignore hard lessons learned by others and continue to repeat mistakes with known bad outcomes. How many stories have we read on this service and from Juan Brown about overloaded, out-of-balance GA planes that came down hard? Hundreds, and they keep on coming.
/J
I’ve had 4 big boys and full fuel at 4600′ field elevation and managed to fly from Pueblo, Co to Denver in a Warrior ll. Ganted Initial climb was 100′ fpm.
Thought 210s were workhorses!
Not only was the aircraft ridiculously overweight, but why were so-called passengers aboard during a post-maintenance test flight? That’s a violation in itself! The PIC was stupid!
Wow, 4, heavy guys [ appx. 200 lb], AND 4 full fuel tanks, 121 gallons….why so much fuel and almost 800 lb of people.?
Then a heavy empty weight of about 2,800 lb….
What could go wrong ?
So, a trashed aircraft with a broken, new engine….what a waste.!
I hope that the mechanic was insured to fly the aircraft, otherwise the owner has a loss of $250k+ .?
I need to hear from some 210 drivers; rotating 20KTs under rotation speed seems nuts. Especially when you have over 4000 feet of runway. Why on earth would you do that (let alone being overweight)? Those numbers are 172 numbers and this was an ATP with over 9000 hours and over 2000 hours in 210s. It boggles the mind.
Insurance won’t cover it as the aircraft was operated contrary to the direction in the POH.