Wenatchee, WA, USA
N4848U
CESSNA 210-5A
The airplane was on the base leg of the traffic pattern when the engine suddenly lost power. The airplane landed hard in a nose-high attitude, and the tail cone struck the runway, resulting in damage to the aft bulkhead and lower fuselage stringer. When a line service technician came with a tug to help get the airplane off the runway, the pilot told him that he had run out of fuel and that he had planned to continue past the airport but made an error in his fuel calculations. The pilot purchased additional fuel and continued to his destination with no further incident. Although the pilot stated that "vapor lock or a fuel system defect were potential causes" for the loss of engine power, his statements to the line service technician and the fact that the engine started and operated normally after fuel was added indicate that the reason for the loss of engine power was fuel exhaustion.
On May 18, 2013, about 1300 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 210-5A, N4848U, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Pangborn Memorial Airport, Wenatchee, Washington. The commercial pilot and his four passengers were not injured. The pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight, which had originated from Chehalis, Washington, approximately 2 hours before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed. The pilot reported that he planned to refuel at Pangborn Memorial Airport. The airplane was on the base leg of a traffic pattern for landing on runway 30 when the airplane's engine suddenly lost power. According to the pilot, the airplane landed "tail low," and the underside of the airplane scraped on the ground. The pilot reported that "vapor lock or a fuel system defect were potential causes" for the loss of engine power. According to one of the passengers, the engine lost power when the airplane was perpendicular to the runway. He reported that they "seemed to be still turning as the airplane touched down hard." The passenger recalled that the airplane bounced, and when it touched down again, it was aligned with the runway. After the airplane rolled to a stop, the pilot attempted to start the engine but it would not start. The pilot and the passengers got out of the airplane and began to push it clear of the runway. Then someone from the airport came out with a tug to tow the airplane. After the airplane was towed to the ramp, the pilot purchased about 50 gallons of fuel. They boarded the airplane, departed, and flew on to their destination of Stehekin, Washington, without further incident. The line service technician who drove the tug out to the airplane and pulled the airplane to the ramp asked the pilot if he needed a mechanic to look at the airplane, and the pilot replied, "no, we ran out of fuel." The technician said "during your run-up?" The pilot replied "no, in the air. We were going to pass Wenatchee, but [I] got our [fuel] numbers off." After the airplane was flown back to its home base in Tonasket, Washington, the owner had a mechanic examine the airplane. The examination revealed that the tail tie-down bolt had been pushed upward into the aft bulkhead, and the aft bulkhead and the lower fuselage stringer were bent and deformed to the point where they needed to be replaced.
The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and his improper landing flare, which resulted in the airplane’s tail striking the runway.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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