Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C; 210D
Flight Crew Sea; Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 49; Flight Crew Total 1652; Flight Crew Type 145
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Diverted; General Declared Emergency
Weather; Human Factors; Aircraft
At the end of the climb phase to 19;000 feet while crossing a frontal zone there was a lightning strike close by and the static discharge tripped the main breaker causing total electrical loss. During the climb I experienced fuel flow fluctuations and as the flight manual instructs I was running the electric boost pump to stabilize flow. This causes the mixture to be leaned to compensate for excess flow. When I lost electric power the boost pump stopped and the engine subsequently lost power and vapor locked. At that point the engine gyros and electric turn coordinator were both out. The electric came back on as soon as I cycled the main electric switch. With IMC in front of me but open air to my right; I immediately declared an emergency so I could stay visual and circled over an airport in that VMC area to restart. Icing was encountered on my descent but I was able to restart the engine around eight to ten thousand feet MSL by running the boost pump on high to clear the vapor locked engine. At that point I asked for vectors to ZZZ with better approach options. As I got closer heavy rain moved over the airport and I was concerned about making an approach in those conditions. Having a good idea of what caused the engine stoppage and that the engine was running stable; I elected to cancel the emergency and vacate the weather toward VMC conditions. Cruising at a lower altitude to my destination no other issues were noted and all systems were functioning normally. ATC was very helpful and handled the emergency very well. They did voice concern over not landing immediately but I felt it was a safer decision to vacate the thunderstorm area rather than shoot an approach in such conditions. It was very disconcerting to loss engine and electric all at once and I will invest in a standby battery powered attitude indicator so this does not happen again. I will adjust my leaning procedure when it is necessary to use the boost pump in climbs so that fuel starvation will not occur should the pump quit.
C210 pilot reports losing electrical power during climb to FL190 due to a nearby lightning strike. The engine was being operated at the time with a fuel boost pump on and the mixture adjusted accordingly. When the electrical power failed the pump failed and the engine quickly lost power. Cycling the main electric switch restores electrical power and the engine is successfully restarted; allowing the flight to continue destination at lower altitude.