Cascade, ID, USA
N732EK
Cessna 210L
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.
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.
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.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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