Cessna 210-5 N1866Z

Summary

On 11 February 1997 at about 19:35 local time, a Cessna 210-5 registered N1866Z was involved in an accident near Hobbs, New Mexico, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 February 1997 at 19:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Hobbs, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Hobbs/Lea County Muni (HOB)

Coordinates

32.7291, -103.1599

Aircraft

Cessna 210-5

Registration

N1866Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Corsicana → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97LA102

1 person was seriously injured.

The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation for undetermined reasons. A factor was the pilot's continued flight after a fuel consumption anomaly was encountered.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After about 70 minutes of cross country flight, the engine quit. After noticing that the left fuel tank gauge was reading 'empty', the pilot switched to the right tank, restarted the engine and proceeded to his destination. After about another 90 minutes of uneventful flight, while on final approach to land, the engine quit again and the pilot executed a forced landing. Examination of the aircraft revealed that the right wing fuel tank was empty and the left wing tank was found to contain approximately 9 gallons of fuel. Fuel tank structural integrity was not compromised and there were no noticeable fuel stains around the engine compartment or on the belly skin of the aircraft. The fuel selector valve was found in the right tank position and the fuel return line fitting was found separated from the engine firewall. Inspection of the threads on both the male and female connection point of fitting revealed deformations. The pilot reported that the aircraft was topped off with 84 gallons of fuel prior to departure, and with a burn rate of 14.5-15.5 gallons per hour he should have had about 37 gallons of fuel left at his destination (348 nautical miles distance traveled). He reported no fuel odors in flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.