N6300WCessna P210N · 1981

On August 7, 2020, about 1036 eastern daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N6300W, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Allendale, South Carolina. The pilot and passenger were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to the pilot, he departed Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV), Gainesville, Florida, around 0830 with an intended destination of Allendale County Airport (AQX), Allendale, South Carolina. Prior to departure, he fueled the airplane with 58 gallons of fuel. During the preflight, he noted “a flake or two of black gunk” when he sumped the right-wing fuel tank but he continued sumping the fuel tank until the fuel was clean. The flight was unremarkable, but, when the airplane was on short final approach to runway 35 at AQX, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The propeller continued to rotate, and the pilot attempted to restart the engine by switching the selected fuel tank but was unsuccessful. The pilot realized that the airplane was not able to reach the runway and he attempted to perform a forced landing to a field.

During the forced landing, the airplane struck trees and impacted the ground. After impact, the pilot and passenger egressed, and a postimpact fire ensued.

The engine was examined by an NTSB investigator who was able to rotate the propeller through 360° of motion and confirmed crankshaft and valvetrain continuity. Compression was obtained on all cylinders, the top spark plugs were removed, and all exhibited normal wear when compared to the Champion-Check-A-Plug Chart. The magnetos were removed, disassembled, and the internal components were melted. Examination of the oil sump and oil sump pick up screen did not reveal any metallic particles. Examination of the turbocharger revealed that it turned freely, and no anomalies were noted. The engine driven fuel pump was removed and exhibited thermal damage. The fuel inlet screen to the throttle body was removed and was occluded with debris. The fuel manifold was removed and disassembled with no anomalies noted. The fuel injectors were removed from the cylinders and Nos. 3 and 5 had blockages noted. The fixed-base operator (FBO) where the airplane refueled noted that there had been 58 separate fueling events, and 1,759.58 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel distributed from the facility without any reported fuel issues in other aircraft.

The engine was installed on the airframe about 8 flight hours prior to the accident. An overhaul was completed on May 14, 2020, after a bird strike that occurred in December 2019. At the time of the engine overhaul, the fuel system was overhauled as well, which included installing an overhauled throttle control/throttle body. After the engine was overhauled, an engine test run was performed at multiple different RPM settings prior to it being installed on the airplane. There were no anomalies noted with the engine test, all components were operating within specified limits, and the engine was approved for return to service.

The pilot was interviewed after the engine exam and stated that the right wing had a “little bit of black junk” in the fuel when it was sumped “from time to time.” Furthermore, the mechanic that performed the most recent engine maintenance stated that he did not note any issues with the engine when it was installed on the airplane. In addition, he stated that the pilot did not mention the issue with draining contaminates out of the right fuel tank until after the accident, otherwise “we could have looked into it.”

The throttle body fuel inlet screen and the debris were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for further examination. The material was examined using a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer with a diamond attenuated total reflectance accessory in accordance with American Society for Testing Materials E1252-98: Standard Practice for General Techniques for Obtaining Infrared Spectra for Qualitative Analysis. The results from the FTIR spectrometer test were used to search the spectral library for similar results. The spectral search found a very strong match for polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET is a thermoplastic polymer of the polyester family, which is commonly found in fuel system components.

The pilot reported that during the initial climb, about 1,500 ft mean sea level, a bird was flying vertical and then turned into the airplane. The bird contacted the propeller, continued through the left side of the windshield, and struck the pilot in the face. After regaining control of the airplane, the pilot declared an emergency and landed the airplane without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the windshield. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.