CHI95LA246 · Cessna P210N
Cessna P210N · Accident: partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during initial climb
From Springfield Branson National Airport (SGF) to West Houston Airport (IWS)
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI95LA246
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Cessna P210N
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 210
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N6322W
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Springfield Branson National Airport (SGF)To West Houston Airport (IWS), WEST HOUSTON, TX
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Ignition system, spark plug › Fouled
- Mixture › Improper
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE PILOT REPORTED THAT SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, HE SENSED THAT THE ENGINE WAS LOSING POWER BECAUSE THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT ACCELERATING. THE ENGINE INSTRUMENTS AND FUEL SELECTOR ALL APPEARED NORMAL. THE CONTROL TOWER REPORTED A PUFF OF BLACK SMOKE COMING FROM THE AIRPLANE. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE SELECTED A FIELD TO MAKE A FORCED LANDING ON. HE STATED THAT HE WAS NOT ABLE TO LOWER THE FLAPS UNTIL THE AIRPLANE CLEARED POWERLINES WHICH LINED THE FIELD'S BOUNDARY. AIRSPEED CARRIED THE AIRPLANE TO THE CENTER OF THE FIELD, SO THE PILOT DECIDED TO HIT A HEDGE ROW OF TREES IN ORDER TO SLOW THE AIRPLANE DOWN. THE RIGHT WING STRUCK A TREE AND THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE GROUND. POSTACCIDENT EXAMINATION REVEALED THE SPARK PLUGS AND VALVES WERE COATED WITH BLACK SOOT. SEVERAL SPARK PLUGS WERE OIL SOAKED. THE AIR CONDITIONING CONTROLS WERE FOUND IN THE 'ON' POSITION WITH THE TEMPERATURE SELECTOR ON MAXIMUM COLD. THE FUEL PUMP POSITION COULD NOT BE DETERMINED BECAUSE THE SWITCHES WERE REMOVED PRIOR TO THE FAA'S ARRIVAL ON SITE. NO OTHER ANOMALIES WERE NOTED.
Probable cause
the partial loss of engine power due to fouled spark plugs as a result of an improper fuel/air mixture. A factor in the accident was the powerlines.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI95LA246
- Event ID
- 20001207X03916
- Case number
- CHI95LA246
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 4bb58670387e8abf6e02fecbdeee56f00908f882fb4c0cecc9eba0cf27f67aed; retrieved 2026-09-21T13:10:19.283Z.