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FTW85LA215 · Cessna 210E

8 May 1985 · Natchitoches, LA, United States

Cessna 210E · Accident: partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure) during initial climb

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Event

NTSB case
FTW85LA215
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 210E

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
N2367F
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
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 (mechanical failure)
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

  • Engine assembly, piston › Worn
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, inspection, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Emergency procedure, improper

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT EXPERIENCED PARTIAL POWER LOSS DUE TO INGESTION OF THE ALTERNATE AIR DOOR SHAFT NEEDLE BEARING ROLLERS INTO THE ENGINE, AND CROSS FIRING OF THE RIGHT MAGNETO. HE REPORTEDLY CLOSED THE THROTTLE AND MADE A GEAR UP FORCED LANDING. THE AIRCRAFT SLID ACROSS A SMALL DITCH AND STOPPED. THE AIRCRAFT'S LAST ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED ONLY ABOUT SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. POST ACCICENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED SEVERAL LOOSE CLAPMS ON THE AIR INDUCTION TUBES AND EVIDENCE OF CROSS FIRING THE RIGHT MAGNETO. INTERNAL EXAMINATION REVEALED STUCK COMPRESSION RINGS ON TWO PISTONS AND EVIDENCE OF INGESTION OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED NEEDLE BEARING ROLLERS.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record FTW85LA215
Event ID
20001214X36464
Case number
FTW85LA215
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: ea9395ef5a4f44d44c81b9fb822faccba51d3d85bc5322afa70a1ccc86014171; retrieved 2026-09-21T17:17:40.376Z.