Cessna 210L N3UF

Summary

On 10 August 2002 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 210L registered N3UF was involved in an accident near Lacon, Illinois, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 August 2002 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lacon, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

41.0192, -89.3864

Aircraft

Cessna 210L

Registration

N3UF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sugar Grove → Peoria

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02LA251

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to perform an intentional gear-up precautionary landing instead of continuing to the next available airport. A factor to the accident was the corn crop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane sustained substantial damage during a precautionary landing. The pilot reported that while descending from cruise altitude he "noticed that the autopilot descend button had gotten progressively warmer. " The pilot stated he "turned off the autopilot and noticed that the panel around the autopilot was also very hot." The pilot reported he, "turned off the master switch thinking I may have the beginning of an electrical fire and started thinking of landing at the nearest airport. Within about a minute I smelled something hot or burning and I immediately picked out a field in which to land. I did not notice any smoke." The pilot reported he made the decision to perform the precautionary landing between 2,500 - 3,000 feet msl. The pilot performed the precautionary landing with the landing gear in the fully retracted position. The airplane was located in a cornfield that was approximately 4 nautical miles northeast of the nearest airport, which had two hard surfaced runways. There was no evidence of fire and/or smoke damage to the accident airplane. No discrepancies were identified with the autopilot unit and/or system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.