Cessna 205 accident near Celina, OH
On May 9, 1999, a Cessna 205 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Celina, OH. 6 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 9, 1999
- Place
- Celina, OH
- Aircraft
- Cessna 205 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 6 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.551°N, 84.571°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X18790
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 9, 1999, at 1800 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 205, N8157Z, operated by Grand Lake Skydiving, was destroyed during a collision with terrain following a forced landing after takeoff from the Lakefield Airport (CQA), Celina, Ohio. The certificated commercial pilot and five parachutists were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the parachuting flight that originated at CQA. No flight plan was filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. Several witnesses reported hearing the airplane during climb out. They described smooth uninterrupted engine noise. Each witness described smooth engine noise, brief "sputtering," and then a total loss of engine power. One witness who was standing across the road from the accident site when he noticed the airplane, stated: "We came out of the house and I watched it cause it looked low. The engine sounded normal. All of a sudden it started to sputter. He kept on climbing while the engine was sputtering. When the engine was sputtering he was still trying to climb. He wasn't going very fast and he was lower than normal. Then the engine quit and the nose kind of went over. As soon as the airplane started its dive, the one guy jumped out. Part of the chute came out but it didn't open." With a model of an airplane in his hand, the witness demonstrated a slightly nose-up climbing motion. He described the engine sputtering and the airplane descending straight down at the same pitch attitude. The witness said the nose dropped, a parachutist exited, and the airplane entered a spiraling descent
Probable cause
was the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a loss of engine power. Also causal to the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control after the power loss. A factor in the accident was a lack of published operational or safety procedures for the parachute club and the operator's failure to verify the pilot's medical qualifications.
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Browse: Ohio · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
