Cessna T210M down in Eastern Iowa, fatal

[Kyle N]

This one hit close to home as I live only a few miles from the accident location.

Witnesses say the airplane was taking off from Green Castle Aero Club, which is a private airport just north of the accident location (less than a mile).

Reports are there are downed power wires as well. This is a rural area but the fields and gravel roads are hilly (for Iowa at least).

https://www.kcrg.com/2021/05/02/crews-respond-to-incident-at-green-castle-aero-club-in-oxford/

https://twitter.com/NTSB_Newsroom/status/1389035910642155522

 

[jnmeade]

I have probably 1200 hours flying out of IA24, Green Castle airport. I know exactly the crash site. It was a pretty windy and gusty day, wind generally southerly in the teens and 20's and gusty so he was taking off on 15 and crashed a bit south of the airstrip. Based on my experience, it is likely he lifted off and flew a bit before impact. The end of the runway is probably within 100 feet from a crossing blacktop road. The highlines are underground at the runway end. It was about 30-31°C that day.
I'm very confident I know the pilot's name but am not going to post it until it's released.
That runway is about 4000' long, divided into a turf section on the north about 1400' and a narrow (24') blacktopped section on the south about 2600'. I don't think I ever flew my 210 out of there but I would expect no problem at all. One pilot, who knows what baggage but one can guess the plane was well under gross even if it was full fuel.

There are trees and buildings on the west side of the south end of the runway, so there is mechanical turbulence from the right very likely on the crash day as the wind was strong and gusty. But, I'd have thought he'd have been over the obstacles. Who knows.

 

[jrcox19]

Ah man, that sucks. I flew out of Green Castle for a year or so when I first moved to Iowa

 

[Kyle N]

According to Rick (airport manager) the accident pilot was not based out of IA24.

 

[Jim Carpenter]

Accident Cessna T210M Turbo Centurion N1215M, 02 May 2021 (aviation-safety.net)

 

[jnmeade]

Based on the tail number, which appears from my unofficial sources to be accurate, one can easily look up the owner, who I'm told was the pilot.
One story I've heard is the airplane ended up off the ground to the left of the runway and flew either into a highline pole or the highline wires (the wires are underground where they cross the runway), cartwheeled and struck the ground, then burned. There were witnesses, but I'm not sure yet if they were pilot witnesses. I have not heard a definitive statement if operations were touch and go or a conventional take-off. The plane had extended fuel tanks but nothing was said about how much fuel was in it. It had a glass panel, not sure which manufacturer.
One flight instructor had cancelled lessons at the airport because of gusty winds, but in my opinion and that of another 210 owner I know well, that model airplane should have been able to handle the winds if flown competently. Having said that, Green Castle can have some tricky, variable cross winds from that quadrant because of trees, buildings, open spaces, etc. causing crosswinds that change rapidly as you go down the runway and call for prompt correction.

 

[Kyle N]

That's a good analysis. If I recall, there is only 1 "pole length" of wires that are underground across the street, correct? If so, it wouldn't take much being off course to the left to clip the pole or wires where they begin again.

I might drive by after work to see if evidence of pole being replaced.

 

[jnmeade]

I drove to the accident scene this morning. At noon, I happened upon and talked with two men who had spoken with eye witnesses. One of the men is a pilot, Rick Treiber, the club manager. The other man is the son of the previous airport owner. Neither of them is a direct witness.

One eye witness is a farmer in his field, whom I have known for 20-25 ears but who is not a pilot. He farms right on the east side of the airport and may have seen more operations over the years than nearly anyone. I was given the understanding that he saw the entire event, but I'm not personally positive of that. Another witness was on the deck of the house near the south end of the airport and saw the first part but not the last part of the accident. That house is nearly hidden in the trees just west of the south end of 15. I don't know if he's a pilot or not. Here's what I was told by the two I saw at lunch.

The airplane executed a touch and go on Rwy 15. It is uncertain if the pilot was familiar with IA24, but it was not known to the club management.
The airplane had a runway excursion so that it was in the corn field to the left (east) of 15. I was told the airplane "bounced" three times in the corn field. The corn field had last years corn stubble but was otherwise untilled bare dirt. I was further told the NTSB had marked with yellow paint the path of the airplane on the runway and field.

I was told the airplane went to full throttle and became airborne. One wing struck a highline pole at the intersection of Greencastle Ave and F28 (250th St). See "broken pole". I saw new dirt and a brand new pole. The airplane then landed in a field and burned. See Crash site.

I drove by and saw only the vertical stabilizer and a few bits of cowling. The burn spot was very small - like 50' in diameter guessing from the road and virtually no wreckage was visible except as stated before. It is my impression that what remained of the instrument panel and engine was no longer in the crash site, but I won't swear to that.

I saw a man with an NTSB sweatshirt walking in the corn field along with another man who was dressed like a farmer (bib overalls and all). There were several local sheriff' deputies there.

The new pole is about 400' to the left of the extended center line of 15.

Again, my comments are based on second hand information and while they are consistent with what I saw and heard from multiple source I do not guarantee them to be accurate in all regards.

 

[Cykoguy]

View attachment 96025 I drove to the accident scene this morning. At noon, I happened upon and talked with two men who had spoken with eye witnesses. One of the men is a pilot, Rick Treiber, the club manager. The other man is the son of the previous airport owner. Neither of them is a direct witness.

One eye witness is a farmer in his field, whom I have known for 20-25 ears but who is not a pilot. He farms right on the east side of the airport and may have seen more operations over the years than nearly anyone. I was given the understanding that he saw the entire event, but I'm not personally positive of that. Another witness was on the deck of the house near the south end of the airport and saw the first part but not the last part of the accident. That house is nearly hidden in the trees just west of the south end of 15. I don't know if he's a pilot or not. Here's what I was told by the two I saw at lunch.

The airplane executed a touch and go on Rwy 15. It is uncertain if the pilot was familiar with IA24, but it was not known to the club management.
The airplane had a runway excursion so that it was in the corn field to the left (east) of 15. I was told the airplane "bounced" three times in the corn field. The corn field had last years corn stubble but was otherwise untilled bare dirt. I was further told the NTSB had marked with yellow paint the path of the airplane on the runway and field.

I was told the airplane went to full throttle and became airborne. One wing struck a highline pole at the intersection of Greencastle Ave and F28 (250th St). See "broken pole". I saw new dirt and a brand new pole. The airplane then landed in a field and burned. See Crash site.

I drove by and saw only the vertical stabilizer and a few bits of cowling. The burn spot was very small - like 50' in diameter guessing from the road and virtually no wreckage was visible except as stated before. It is my impression that what remained of the instrument panel and engine was no longer in the crash site, but I won't swear to that.

I saw a man with an NTSB sweatshirt walking in the corn field along with another man who was dressed like a farmer (bib overalls and all). There were several local sheriff' deputies there.

The new pole is about 400' to the left of the extended center line of 15.

Again, my comments are based on second hand information and while they are consistent with what I saw and heard from multiple source I do not guarantee them to be accurate in all regards.

Thanks for the updates and information.