Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81147
Saturday, October 1, 1994 14:20 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
PRIVATE PILOTS, ENROLLED IN A PROFESSIONAL PILOT COURSE, WERE BUILDING CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT TIME FOR THEIR COMMERCIAL CERTIFICATION. ON THE RETURN FLIGHT FROM CALIFORNIA TO TEXAS, ROUTING WAS PLANNED THROUGH COLORADO FOR THE INSTRUCTIONAL PORTION OF THE MOUNTAIN CURRICULUM. AIRMETS INCLUDED WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR TURBULENCE. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR AMENDED THE FLIGHT ROUTE AND CONTINUED EVEN THOUGH FLIGHT WATCH ISSUED THE AIRMET FOR TURBULENCE AND THAT VFR WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. COMPANY PERSONNEL REPORTED THAT THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR HAD MADE NUMEROUS FLIGHTS ALONG THE REGULAR MOUNTAIN FLYING CURRICULUM ROUTE (HIGHEST ELEVATION 9,927 FEET); HOWEVER, 'THIS WAS THE INSTRUCTOR'S FIRST TRIP CROSSING THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE THROUGH THE CANYON AT ELWOOD PASS' AN ELEVATION OF 11,875 FEET. DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS CALCULATED AT 14,000 FEET. THIS WAS THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S SECOND DEMONSTRATION THAT DAY FOR A 180 DEGREE TURN- AROUND PROCEDURE IN A BOX CANYON ENVIRONMENT. THE INSTRUCTOR STATED THAT 'NEAR THE COMPLETION OF THE TURN, WE EXPERIENCED A SEVERE UNEXPECTED DOWNDRAFT' WITH A RESULTING RATE OF DECENT OF '6,000 FPM' AND THE AIRPLANE HIT THE TREES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S CONTINUED FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER. FACTORS WERE THE PILOT'S LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA, THE TURBULENCE AND HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/1/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1420 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | PAGOSA SPRINGS |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81147 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7535 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 14000 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1752 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 2 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 720 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1480X |
| NTSB Number | FTW95FA002 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7535288 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 13 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 70 |
| Airframe Hours | 3977 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LE TOURNEAU UNIVERSITY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2100 MOBBERLY |
| Aircraft Owner City | LONGVIEW |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75607 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SAME AS REGISTERED OWNER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | GM8S |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PGA |
| Departure City | PAGE |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1103 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ALS |
| Destination City | ALAMOSA |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |