Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Larkspur, Colorado 80118
Wednesday, February 8, 1995 19:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT FIRST MADE 3 INFLIGHT CONTACTS WITH THE DENVER AFSS, AND WAS ADVISED OF FORECAST ICING CONDITIONS AND TURBULENCE ALONG HIS ROUTE. HE WAS TOLD THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED BECAUSE PILOTS HAD REPORTED CLOUD BASES 'ON THE GROUND.' THE PILOT THEN LANDED AT COLORADO SPRINGS DUE TO DETERIORATING WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND OBTAINED THREE MORE TELEPHONE BRIEFINGS FROM THE AFSS. DURING THE LAST BRIEFING, HE WAS TOLD THAT ALTHOUGH VFR CONDITIONS WERE BEING REPORTED AT COLORADO SPRINGS AND CENTENNIAL AIRPORT (HIS DESTINATION), THERE WAS A BAND OF LEVEL ONE PRECIPITATION ACROSS HIS ROUTE OF FLIGHT, AND WAS ADVISED NOT TO ATTEMPT VFR FLIGHT. THE PILOT TOOK OFF FOR THE 30 MIN FLIGHT TO CENTENNIAL AIRPORT. A WITNESS NEAR THE ACCIDENT SITE HEARD A LOW-FLYING AIRPLANE PASS OVER HIS HOUSE. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, HE HEARD A LOUD NOISE AND OBSERVED A FIRE. THE WITNESS SAID IT WAS SNOWING HEAVILY AT THE TIME, AND VISIBILITY WAS LESS THAN 1/4 MI. A LOCAL RESIDENT ALSO REPORTED THAT AT 1955 HE SCRAPED A THIN LAYER OF ICE FROM HIS WINDSHIELD.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S DECISION TO CONTINUE VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AFTER BEING ADVISED THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. THE WEATHER AND DARK NIGHT WERE FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1950 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | LARKSPUR |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80118 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 79 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 8 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2040 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N33MR |
| NTSB Number | FTW95FA111 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 177RG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 177RG |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 177RG0772 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 21 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1934 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THARP, EUGENE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8461 S. WILLOW CREEK ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LITTLETON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80126 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| 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 | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | COS |
| Departure City | COLORADO SPGS |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1937 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | APA |
| Destination City | ENGLEWOOD |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |