| Crash location | 40.618334°N, 96.925834°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Crete, NE
40.449162°N, 101.855177°W 259.1 miles away |
| Tail number | N210PF |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 01 Sep 2018 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna P210N |
| Additional details: | None |
On September 1, 2018, about 0900 central daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N210PF, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a cornfield following a partial loss of engine power after takeoff from the Crete Municipal Airport (CEK), Crete, Nebraska. The pilot and right seat passenger received serious injuries, and the two rear seat passengers received minor injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The flight was departing CEX and was en route to the Cozad Municipal Airport (CZD), Cozad, Nebraska.
The pilot reported that he and the co-owner had flown the airplane the night before the accident occurred. He stated that the airplane flew normally and that there were no indications of any problems. On the morning of the accident, he started the engine but then it stopped. He used the low-pressure boost pump to start the engine a second time. He did an engine run-up before takeoff, and he stated that the engine was operating normally. He departed runway 17 and the airplane took most of the 4,201 ft runway before it became airborne. He said that when the airplane reached about 500 ft above ground level (agl), the engine did not seem to be producing full power. He turned on the low-pressure boost pump and the airplane climbed to 1,000 ft agl. The pilot turned back toward the airport but the engine continued to lose power, so he conducted a forced landing to a cornfield.
A witness reported that the airplane took most of runway 17 before it lifted off. He stated that he observed "dark exhaust" trailing the airplane during the takeoff. The airplane veered to the right and he lost sight of it behind a tree line.
At 0854, the surface weather observation at CEK was: wind 170° at 3 knots; visibility 10 miles; sky clear; temperature 24° C; dew point 19° C; and altimeter 29.89 inches of mercury.