FlightFollowerCessna T210M N761YZ — Engine Failure and Forced-Landing Decision Near Oldenburg
The Flight & Context
On December 16, 2017, a Cessna T210M, N761YZ, was operating a cross-country flight from Columbus Municipal Airport, Indiana, toward Frederick Municipal Airport, Maryland. An airline transport pilot and two passengers were aboard, one of whom was pilot-rated. The flight was conducted under IFR in dark-night conditions.
During the climb, the aircraft experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot identified Batesville Airport (HLB), about four miles away, as the diversionary airport. The controller advised that HLB was closed, but continued providing radar assistance because it was the most practical landing reference available.
The Emergency
The aircraft turned toward HLB and approached the airport at low altitude. The controller provided the runway position and later the CTAF frequency. The airplane passed over the airport at about 4,000 feet and then continued north. Instead of circling over the airport to attempt a landing, the aircraft moved farther away and entered a right turn. The available landing options narrowed rapidly.
What Failed
The NTSB examination found that the No. 4 piston had failed. The piston crown separated after the upper compression ring insert disbonded from the piston body. Investigators determined that the disbonding was likely associated with a manufacturing anomaly. The engine failure therefore had a mechanical origin; the later outcome involved emergency decision-making in dark-night conditions.
Probable Cause
The NTSB determined that the probable cause was total loss of engine power due to failure of the No. 4 piston, followed by the attempted forced landing in dark-night conditions and the collision with trees and terrain. Contributing factors included situational stress and fatigue that degraded the pilot’s performance.
Key Takeaways / Lessons Learned
A closed airport can still become the best emergency reference when it is the only reachable landing area, but once the aircraft is over the runway environment the next decision matters enormously. In a power-off emergency at night, preserving the landing option already in reach can be more important than searching for a better option that may not exist.
N761YZ, a Cessna T210M Turbo Centurion, departed Columbus Municipal Airport, Indiana, at about 8:39 p.m. on December 16, 2017, bound for Frederick Municipal Airport, Maryland. An airline transport pilot was flying, with two passengers aboard — one of them also pilot-rated. Less than twenty minutes later, all three would be dead in a wooded field in Franklin County, Indiana, a mile short of an airport the pilot never landed at.
Accident Facts
- Accident
- CEN18FA053
- Date
- December 16, 2017, about 8:57–8:58 p.m. EST
- Aircraft
- Cessna T210M Turbo Centurion
- Registration
- N761YZ
- Route
- Columbus Municipal Airport (BAK), Indiana → Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), Maryland
- Location
- Near Oldenburg / Batesville, Franklin County, Indiana
- Operation
- Part 91 personal flight, IFR flight plan, dark night VMC
- Fatalities
- 3 (pilot, pilot-rated passenger, passenger)
- Defining event
- Total loss of engine power (No. 4 piston failure)
A Sudden Loss of Power at 6,600 Feet
The flight was routine for its first several minutes, climbing through dark night conditions over rural Indiana. At approximately 6,600 feet AGL, the Centurion suddenly lost engine power. The pilot identified a nearby airport about four miles to the northeast and turned to divert there. Air traffic control began providing radar vectors toward it — then advised him the field was closed.
A Closed Runway, Overflown
That airport was Batesville, Indiana (KHLB). FAA NOTAM data confirmed it had been closed since December 6, 2017, with no runway lighting available. The pilot overflew it at approximately 3,000 feet AGL. Rather than circling back to attempt a landing on the closed field — dark and unlit, but still a paved surface — he continued about 1.5 miles north before entering a right gliding turn.
The Final Descent
From that turn, the aircraft descended into trees and terrain approximately two miles north of the Batesville airport. All three occupants were killed and the aircraft was destroyed by impact and a postimpact fire.
What Failed Inside the Engine
Postaccident examination found no evidence of structural or flight-control failure. The engine told a different story: the No. 4 piston had failed, its upper compression ring insert disbonding from the piston body, likely due to a manufacturing anomaly. That failure explains why the engine stopped producing power — but not the decision that followed it.
The Only Airport in Glide Range
Performance analysis established that the closed Batesville airport was the only field within power-off glide range at the moment the engine failed. In the dark, with no lights and a runway that had been shut down for ten days, the pilot had, in effect, one real option — and flew past it.
A Reasonable Instinct, an Unreasonable Extension
Investigators characterized the initial decision to divert toward the closed airport as understandable — it was the nearest field, closed or not. What reduced the pilot's options further was continuing beyond it rather than circling back to attempt a landing there. Once past Batesville, the remaining glide distance ran out over trees rather than pavement.
Sources
NTSB Accident Number CEN18FA053, factual report and docket; Kathryn's Report contemporaneous coverage; Aviation Safety Network; video.
Primary Source / Investigation Record
Primary Investigation Reference
NTSB accident number: CEN18FA053
Primary investigation report: CEN18FA053