The Cessna 210 was on the base leg of the traffic pattern to Wenatchee, Wash., when the engine suddenly lost power. It 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.
None of the five people on board were injured.
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.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as 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.
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA247
This May 2013 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.
I suspect he learned his lesson on the fuel. The reason he should lose his ticket, if the reported damage is accurate, is that he flew a known damaged aircraft without benefit of an inspection.
I am amazed that the 4 passengers agreed to continue on with this guy after what happened, especially with tail area damage. Trusting souls I guess. I would have been looking for public transportation back home.
I flew a 210 for 10+ years, with most of my flights 4+ hours. Fuel supply was ALWAYS a first consideration, as fuel stops were few and far between. If nothing else, I was always aware of fuel on board, fuel consumption, etc. I recently flew a twin turboprop from Calgary, Canada to Montevideo, Uruguay. The first consideration was fuel consumption, and fuel supply. Any time you depart with something less than full fuel, fuel consumption has to be your first, last and most important planning item!
I see some very judgmental comments here. I hope none of you that made these harsh comments never make an error while piloting an aircraft. Did the pilot make some bad decisions yes I would agree with that, but to say he should loose his certificate is overboard.
Someone who can’t calculate properly the fuel requirement for a trip and/or monitor fuel consumption during the course of a flight recognizing their mistake and use good judgement to land for fuel well before running the tanks dry and then top all that off with flying a damaged airplane without benefit of an inspection and repairs if necessary should be grounded. It’s idiots like that who drive our insurance rates through the roof. The pilot was lucky to escape this “DA” incident with his life to say nothing of the trusting passengers.
Paul your right in target with this operator. I use the word pilot respectfully here. If anything is
worth mentioning here is that every pilot owes it to his passengers regardless a C210 or B777.
The passengers deserve the right to live through the flight to the destination. I care less about ego issues and machismo types. This character needs a full flight review and check ride for FAA and Insurance. This is part of the reason manufacturers get frivolous law suits.
Totally pilot error then blame it on the company that built or maintained the aircraft.
My rule is never pass up a gas pump without topping off. It’s my opinion that if a plane can’t carry a full passenger load plus whatever else you can pile in it, with full tanks then you don’t have a big enough airplane. I won’t say I won’t some day do something stupid but it won’t be running out of fuel.
And we all pay higher insurance because some pilots can’t figure fuel consumption. There should be an FAR that says …if you run out of fuel, you have to relinquish your pilot certificate.
Seems a little harsh. He did no damage except to his own airplane, and that was a result of a lousy landing, not running out of fuel.
You don’t think the lousy landing was a direct result of running out of fuel and deadsticking it in?
Continued on his way with tail structural damage??
Must not have been as severe as they said it was if he took off again, or just plain ignorant!!
Considering he ran out of fuel I’m going with poor decision on the continuation of the trip.