Four Fatally Injured When Aircraft Impacted Mountainous Terrain

The NTSB has released a preliminary report from an accident which occurred on January 2 that resulted in the fatal injury of a pilot and three passengers aboard a Cessna 210.

According to the report, the accident occurred at about 0937 Mountain standard time. The Cessna T210K, N272EF, was destroyed after it collided with mountainous terrain near Payson, Arizona.

Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the cross-country flight.

According to the report, the flight departed Scottsdale Airport (SDL), Scottsdale, Arizona at 0912 and was destined for Telluride, Colorado. According to the pilot's friend, he planned a flight to Colorado with his family for their annual vacation. Preliminary FAA Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar data showed an airplane that had departed SDL with a VFR transponder code on a direct course for the pilot's destination airport.

After approximately 12 minutes of flight, the airplane reached a final cruising altitude of about 7,950 feet mean sea level. The airplane subsequently descended about 1,300 feet in one minute before it entered a momentary climb, followed by a shallow descent. In the remaining two and a half minutes, the airplane maintained a 300 foot per minute descent rate with some intermittent climbs. The final two radar targets showed the airplane ascend about 425 feet in 12 seconds. The airplane maintained a straight track from SDL to the last radar target, which was within a tenth of a nautical mile of the accident site and indicated a field elevation of 6,670 feet.

The last radar target was recorded at 0937:39. Between 0938 and 0942, an ATC facility received reports from three separate aircraft that had received ELT signals near the accident site.

The airplane came to rest on the south face of a mountain rim approximately 11 nautical miles north of Payson Airport at an elevation of about 6,601 feet.

The initial impact point (IIP) was identified by an aluminum fragment embedded in a 50 foot tall tree about mid-span and several broken tree branches beyond the IIP. An initial ground scar was marked by airplane fragments, tree branches, and loose dirt approximately 40 feet forward of the IIP. Portions of the wings and elevators were found along the wreckage path.

The main wreckage was found approximately 80 feet from the IIP and was comprised of the engine, fuselage, and tail section, which had been displaced approximately 30 degrees upward from the ground. The vertical stabilizer and rudder had separated from the fuselage and were hanging by the airplane's rudder cables. An odor of fuel was detected near each wing fuel tank, which were both separated and breached.

(Source: NTSB. Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov