Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Gygne, Kansas 66040
Saturday, July 9, 2005 10:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was landed in a corn field following a loss of engine power while in cruise flight. The pilot reported that upon reaching 7,500 feet he was adjusting the engine to cruise power, when the engine went to idle. He reported that he pulled the throttle out, pushed it back in and got a "little power surge." He stated that there was no change in power when he adjusted the throttle a second time. The pilot reported, "I attempted a third time and it came out of the dash (about a foot)." He reported that he threaded the cable back into the instrument panel and established communications with air traffic control. The pilot was given a vector to the closest airport and upon reaching an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 feet, realized the airport was too far away and that he needed to pick a field in which to land. The pilot stated he selected a corn field and made a "textbook" landing, but the airplane "weathervaned" shortly after touching down. The pilot stated, "I informed them [air traffic control] that the airplane looked to be in pretty good shape, not realizing the amount of damage that corn can do to sheet metal!" The throttle cable was removed from the airplane and examined at the National Transportation Safety Board's Materials Laboratory. Examination revealed that both the stranded cable and the inner spring failed as a result of wear followed by fatigue cracking. Both the brass tube end of the assembly and the inner plunger showed an area of wear. The source of the wear could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the throttle control cable which resulted from wear followed by fatigue cracking. A factor associated with the accident was the corn crop which the airplane contacted during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Gygne |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66040 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380742N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0944453W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IXD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1087 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19473 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Kansas City, MO FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4933U |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA178 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21058633 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 3112 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Centurion III Airways, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 329 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sapulpa |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74067 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Dale Q. Walkup |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Blue Springs |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 64015 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | K81 |
| Departure City | Gardner |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 2K2 |
| Destination City | Ozark |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 7 2006 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |