Cessna T210N accident near Springfield, Missouri, November 15, 1996
On November 15, 1996 at about 10:36 am local time, a Cessna T210N, registered N5083C, was destroyed in an accident near Springfield, Missouri (Springfield Regional). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the pilot's failure to set the altimeter to the current setting given by the controller resulting in the aircraft altimeter reading 260 feet higher than the actual aircraft altitude. Factors involved were pilot fatigue, weather conditions at approach minimums, and a tailwind.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 15, 1996 · about 10:36 am local time
- Place
- Springfield, Missouri · Springfield Regional
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna T210N · all T210Ns on the register
- Registration
- N5083C · registry record · serial 21063700
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot was on his last flight leg for that evening carrying cancelled bank checks. He was cleared for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to runway 02 to the Sprinfield-Branson Regional Airport by Kansas City Center. The aircraft crashed about a mile short of runway 02 while on the night instrument approach. The weather at the time of the accident was reported as two hundred feet overcast with visibility at one and a quarter mile in mist. Winds were reported at one five zero degrees at nineteen with wind gusts to two four. Altimeter setting was 30.24 inches. The Kollsman window of the altimeter in the aircraft was found after the accident set to 30.50 inches. Kansas City Center transmitted to the pilot 'the new Springfield weather just came out uh has still has two hundred feet overcast visibility uh one and one-quarter mile now and uh mist wind one five zero at one niner gusting to two four altimeter uh is uh three zero two four'. The pilot acknowledged 'three zero two four prompt air five fifty.' The baggage handler, who loaded the airplane before the pilot departed for Springfield, said that the pilot 'looked very tired and fatigued.' The pilot had commenced his workday at approximately 1800 cst the day before the accident.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,886 hours in all; 453 in this make and model; 189 in the last 90 days; 67 in the last 30 days; 1,717 as pilot in command; 804 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,107 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, November 12, 1996; 10 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520-PCR (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: CPS Cahokia IL at 9:10 am
- Destination: SGF
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 2, 7,003 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 150° at 19 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility: 1.5 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 200 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 37°F (3°C), dew point 37°F (3°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:04 am from SGF
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N5083C the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.