NTSB Factual Report

On March 1, 2001, at 1255 eastern standard time, a Cessna 210, N3738Y, was substantially damaged during landing at the Newark-Heath Airport (VTA), Newark, Ohio. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight which originated from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington, D.C., at 0930. No flight plan was filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In a written statement, the pilot stated:

"I departed DCA, VFR, at approximately 9:30 EST on March 1, 2001. I was cleared to 8,500 feet, eventually on course to KVTA. At 8,500 feet the air was smooth. I had VFR flight following until approximately 35 miles out of KVTA, I was told to squawk 1200, and change to the local frequency."

"I started to reduce power in anticipation of going to a lower altitude, and eventually to land. I descended to 6,500 feet and we were feeling some occasional turbulence. I continued to reduce my power to continue the descent. When I reached 4,500 feet, I started to level off. When I leveled off, the plane felt somewhat nose heavy, and it seemed to me that no matter what I would do, I could not make the plane climb. It was taking two hands to pull on the yoke to stop the descent. I turned the trim tab to full nose up, and that seemed to help relieve the control pressures a little bit, but it was still taking extreme pressure to try and stop the descent."

"I monitored the ASOS for VTA and found that the winds were from 250, at approximately 15 knots. With the controls not feeling exactly right, I decided to come straight in for runway 27, instead of flying a pattern. I called out my intentions for a straight in approach when I was approximately 7 miles out..."

"As we got closer to the runway, I was descending faster than normal due to the controls not feeling correct. As we approached trees on final it appeared that we would not clear them, so I added power to stop the descent and we leveled off above the treetops. Once we were beyond the trees, I reduced power in anticipation of landing. When we were above the runway, and it was time to flare, I could not get the yoke to come back far enough to roundout. We hit the runway very hard on the nose wheel, porpoised back into the air approximately 30 feet, at that point, I tried applying power to make the next impact less, but the plane did not respond, it came back down, bounced again, we bounced one more time on the grass between the runway and taxiway, at which point the nose wheel broke off, and we skidded across the taxiway until we stopped on the grass at the other side, nose down."

The airplane was examined by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector. A flight control continuity check performed by the inspector revealed that the control column could only be deflected aft to the "level flight" position.

The inspector removed the horizontal situational indicator (HSI) from the instrument panel, and was then able to deflect the flight controls to their full aft position. Examination of the control stop on the control column tube, revealed significant chaffing marks and black paint transfer on its upper surface. Examination of the rear casing of the HSI revealed similar chaffing marks and an indentation consistent with the shape of the control column stop, on the lower edge of the instrument. Additionally, the inspector reported that five shock mounts were installed on the instrument panel, of which the lower right and lower center shock mounts were broken, and the upper left shock mount was not attached.

The lower right and lower center shock mounts were examined at the Safety Board Materials Laboratory, on August 31, 2001. According to the Materials Laboratory factual report, each mount consisted of an elastomeric center section bonded to a stub plate with an attached threaded rod. Both mounts were fractured through their elastomeric center sections in a crescent-shaped region. The crescent region on both mounts intersected the exterior surface of the elastomeric section on multiple planes adjacent to the stub plate and progressed into the elastomeric section at an angle of about 80 degrees. Additionally noted on both mounts was a large gaping crack located on the end of the mount opposite from the fracture. Detailed examination also revealed the presence of a large number of smaller circumferential cracks located throughout the center section.

Examination of the maintenance logbooks revealed that the HSI was installed in the airplane on August 17, 1994, by an avionics facility, to replace the original directional gyro (DG) instrument. The HSI was installed about 3/4-inch above the control column, and was measured to be 9-inches long.

The distance between the HSI and the control column measured after the accident was about 1/2-inch.

According to the Cessna Model 210 Service Manual, "The service life of shock-mounted instruments is directly related to adequate shock-mounting of the panel. If removal of the shock-mounted panel is necessary, check mounts for deterioration and replace as necessary."

Detailed examination of the shock mounts revealed they were the original shock mounts installed in the airplane in December, 1963.

The pilot reported 736 hours of total flight experience, 250 of which were in make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause

Improper maintenance, which resulted in the failure of the instrument panel shock mounts.