Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Indianola, Iowa 50125
Tuesady, December 28, 1999 11:16 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said, 'As I passed through 6,000 feet, I experienced severe engine knock and a gradual loss of power.' The pilot adjusted the mixture. 'However, adjusting the mixture either way resulted in additional loss of power and did not solve the engine knock. I set the mixture to the best setting I could find.' The pilot declared an emergency with Des Moines Departure Control. The pilot said, 'Des Moines recommended that I proceed to the Indianola Airport, so I turned on heading and attempted to maintain a glide speed of 85 miles per hour. Despite clock headings given to me by Des Moines, I still did not have Indianola Airport in sight. The only field I thought I could make was slightly ahead of me, and it had trees on the touch down end of the field.' The pilot said he turned toward the field, lowered the landing gear, and lowered 'some flaps.' The pilot said, 'As I turned on course for the field, I realized my rate of descent was too high and that I did not have enough airspeed to pull up over the trees while banking. At that point, I struck the tree.' The airplane's engine was later successfully run at Teledyne Continental Motors.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

loss of engine power for undetermined reason. A factor relating to this accident was the tree.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/28/1999
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1116
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City INDIANOLA
Event State IOWA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 50125
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1054 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 338
Weather Observation Facility ID DSM
Elevation of weather observation facility 991
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 17
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 25
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 391
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1636
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 28 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1240
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:06AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6144R
NTSB Number CHI00LA052
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T210F
Aircraft Series Identifier T210F
Aircraft Serial Number T210-0044
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 2 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 29
Airframe Hours 843
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RICHARD G. FISHER, JR.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 10821 E. LINWOOD DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City LA PORTE
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77571
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code DSM
Departure City DES MOINES
Departure State IA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1103
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code T41
Destination City LA PORTE
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:06AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --