Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Benson Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Benson, Arizona 85602
Friday, May 21, 2010 10:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that when he initiated a turn to final approach for landing, the engine suddenly lost power. He checked the cockpit gauges and the fuel selector, before attempting an unsuccessful engine restart. Unable to reach the runway, the pilot initiated a forced landing onto a ridge. During the landing, the left main landing gear and nose landing gear separated and the airplane slid to a stop on its nose. During the postaccident examination of the engine, the fuel system was tested and the fuel manifold diaphragm was found to be brittle and stiff. The engine driven fuel pump was fuel stained and when further inspected, the four screws that hold the body of the fuel pump together were found loose. When the pump was submerged in fuel and manually rotated, it emitted fuel along with large air bubbles. The four screws were then tightened and the pump was again submerged in fuel. The fuel flowed normally without any air bubbles present. It is likely that the fuel manifold valve would require more fuel pressure than normal for it to function properly because of the fuel diaphragm’s brittleness and stiffness. It is also likely that the four loose screws on the fuel pump body allowed air to mix in with the fuel causing the pump to cavitate. Therefore, the fuel pressure dropped to a level that would cause the fuel manifold valve to close, subsequently starving the engine of fuel. An annual inspection was reported to have been completed 11.1 hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of a loss of fuel pressure caused by the fuel pump screws being loose. Contributing to the accident was inadequate maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Benson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85602 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 315958N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1102128W |
| Event Location Airport | Benson Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E95 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3829 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FHU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4719 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28425 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 6 2011 1:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6630X |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA251 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 210A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21057630 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4737 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TRI ROTOR AG SERVICES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 498 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SOMERTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85350-0498 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Waylon D. Crump |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Saint David |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | E95 |
| Departure City | Benson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | E95 |
| Destination City | Benson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2011 5:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |