The pilot was making a cross-country flight to return the Cessna 210 to the airport where it was normally stored after the completion of an annual inspection. The route of flight passed near a grass airstrip that was adjacent to the pilot’s ranch home in Opal, S.D., and the wreckage was about 275 yards from the northwest end of the airstrip.
No witnesses to the accident were identified, and it could not be determined whether the pilot was performing a low pass or had attempted a landing at the airstrip.
Examination of the accident site indicated the airplane hit terrain in a nose-low attitude. The pilot died in the crash.
Post-accident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures.
Although the reported wind at an airport about 19 miles from the accident site was from 360° at 16 knots, the wind at an airport 53 miles from the accident site was from 320° at 34 knots with gusts to 40 knots.
Additionally, weather modeling identified the potential for moderate low-level wind shear (LLWS) and moderate clear air turbulence within about 100′ of the ground, and the potential for light LLWS from 100′ to 500′ above the ground.
Therefore, it is possible that the airplane encountered LLWS and turbulence that contributed to a loss of control.
The pilot also had severe coronary artery disease, which placed him at increased risk of a cardiovascular event that may have resulted in impairment or incapacitation.
The investigation was not able to determine if adverse weather conditions or an acute cardiac event contributed to the accident.
Probable cause: The pilot’s loss of airplane control for reasons that could not be determined due to a lack of evidence.
NTSB Identification: CEN17FA132
This March 2017 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.
Did this plane have have a glass panel? Did the alternator fail? Did the battery(ies) show it(they) was(were) charged?
Just the act of deploying the flaps or gear could have been enough to cause a complete electrical failure under certain conditions. But the flaps were retracted and the gear was up. Why?
But, from all I read no one was concerned about this. No one said anything about the panel of that airplane.
So the pilot is now trying to get the gear down or get the panel to come back to life and managed a CFIT while working inside the cockpit.
I know of a P210 that crashed in IMC because of a complete and total electrical failure shortly after departure and retracting the gear. The NTSB has me on the interested parties list for that crash and I have still not heard what happened (5+ years now) — and a co-worker’s wife was sitting right seat with her husband and they managed to survive that crash. After all, they couldn’t put the gear down, or the flaps because they are actuated electrically. And they had black glass in front of them — a full and complete electrical failure.
I must ask – what is to be learned from reading this story? Plane crashed, no one knows why, no one knows what happened, and no one learns what to do to prevent it from happening again. A very poor choice to post.