T210 lands on rural NY highway, plane destroyed by fire

3393RP

3393RP

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3393RP
In what has to have been the most harrowing of circumstances, a pilot successfully landed his Turbo Centurion on a New York highway after engine issues and escaped the burning aircraft unharmed. While the story doesn't specifically say the plane was on fire before landing, a photo of the aircraft shows that the engine was definitely the cause. It does appear there is a trail of burned material behind the aircraft's final position.

It's sensible to speculate the fire was caused by some sort of turbocharger failure. While I don't know any details, it suffices to say inflight fires are something that's up there on the list of things I never want to experience. The pilot did a good job of handling the emergency.

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2022/07/cessna-t210f-turbo-centurion-n6195r.html?m=0

KathrynsReport.jpg
 
I can’t see the photo that proves the engine to be the cause.
Can I ask someone to re-post, pls?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I can’t see the photo that proves the engine to be the cause.
Can I ask someone to re-post, pls?
Click to expand...

The pilot reported engine problems. He landed on a highway. The aircraft burned from the propeller back to the cockpit.

I prefer reasonable conclusions to being obtuse, but that's just me.

According to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Simmons was piloting his Cessna 210 from Sussex, New Jersey, to the Sullivan County Airport in Bethel when he experienced engine trouble approximately nine miles out.

Simmons then managed to set the plane down on a stretch of State Route 42 that had minimal traffic at the time. He emerged from the aircraft by himself before the front end was consumed in flames.
 
From the report:

"According to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Simmons was piloting his Cessna 210 from Sussex, New Jersey, to the Sullivan County Airport in Bethel when he experienced engine trouble approximately nine miles out.

Simmons then managed to set the plane down on a stretch of State Route 42 that had minimal traffic at the time. He emerged from the aircraft by himself before the front end was consumed in flames."
 
3393RP said:
The pilot reported engine problems. He landed on a highway. The aircraft burned from the propeller back to the cockpit.

I prefer reasonable conclusions to being obtuse, but that's just me.

According to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Simmons was piloting his Cessna 210 from Sussex, New Jersey, to the Sullivan County Airport in Bethel when he experienced engine trouble approximately nine miles out.

Simmons then managed to set the plane down on a stretch of State Route 42 that had minimal traffic at the time. He emerged from the aircraft by himself before the front end was consumed in flames.
Click to expand...
Still, nothing really pointing toward the engine itself. It could be a fuel issue forward of the firewall.

And, of course, you KNEW I had some sort of graphic based on homebuilt accidents. This summarizes the sources of in-flight fires for homebuilts from 1998-2017.
fire2.JPG
Admittedly, the number of turbos on homebuilts is relatively small. However, I did notice that the NTSB in-flight fire data for the 210 indicates it has a rate about 3X that the 172. It is, in fact, the highest of the ~12 production-plane statistics I briefly looked at.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Turbos tend to be involved with fires because they are extremely hot and thus any kind of small oil or fuel leak has a high potential for a fire. Debris such as a birds nest or accumulation of grass/vegetation can also provide the fuel necessary but I don't see that being very likely on an aircraft - though it's something I see all the time on diesel farm equipment.
 
It had nothing to do with the turbo. It was a catastrophic engine failure. Read the prelim.
 
orca64 said:
It had nothing to do with the turbo. It was a catastrophic engine failure. Read the prelim.
Click to expand...
great. never said the engine failed because of the turbo. the cause of the airplane catching fire may well have been due to the turbo
 
For those that have not read the preliminary, the prime facts are here:

Post-accident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that landing gear was not extended, and that the engine had a large section of the crankcase missing from the forward left side. The No. 6 connecting rod was laying on top of the engine and the crankshaft and camshaft were fractured.

The engine power reduced, he changed fuel tanks, and Bang, oil on the windscreen.

From the intensity of the fire, it was fueled by gasoline, not lub. oil. The turbo may have provided ignition, or the sparks from sliding down a paved road with gear up, or electrical, or.......
 
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