Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Westcliffe, Colorado 81252
Sunday, September 24, 1995 19:13 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHEN THE PILOT CONTACTED THE RENO, NEVADA, FLIGHT SERVICE STATION, HE DECLINED A STANDARD BRIEFING, BUT REQUESTED A ROUTE FORECAST BETWEEN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, AND COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO. HE WAS ADVISED OF AN AIRMET FOR MOUNTAIN OBSCUREMENT, OCCASIONAL MODERATE RIME ICING IN CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION BETWEEN 8,000 AND 17,000 FEET EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. ALSO, HE WAS ADVISED OF IFR CONDITIONS FROM PUEBLO NORTH TO DENVER. THE PILOT FILED A VFR FLIGHT PLAN AND DEPARTED. WITNESSES NEAR THE ACCIDENT SITE SAID THEY HEARD A LOW FLYING AIRPLANE AND THE SOUNDS OF IMPACT. IMPACT OCCURRED AT DUSK, NEAR THE TOP OF A RIDGE. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL PROBLEM WAS FOUND. WEATHER WAS DESCRIBED AS 100' TO 200' VISIBILITY, FREEZING TEMPERATURE, FOG, AND INTERMITTENT LIGHT SNOW. ALTHOUGH THE PILOT WAS INSTRUMENT RATED, HIS LOGBOOK CONTAINED NO RECORDED INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TIME, EITHER SIMULATED OR ACTUAL, IN THE LAST 13 YEARS. FIVE PEOPLE WERE ABOARD THE AIRPLANE, ALTHOUGH IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH ONLY FOUR SEATS. AUTOPSY PROTOCOL DISCLOSED THE PILOT HAD 'PATCHY FIBROSIS COMPATIBLE WITH PREVIOUS CARDIAC ISCHEMIA' AND 'SIGNIFICANT ARTERIOSCLEROSIS.' TOXICOLOGICAL PROTOCOL DISCLOSED THE PRESENCE OF THIAZIDES, A DIURETIC USED IN HEART MEDICATION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
VFR FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE OR CLEARANCE FROM MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. FACTORS RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE LIGHT CONDITIONS AT DUSK, THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/24/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1913 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | WESTCLIFFE |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81252 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 65 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PUB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4726 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 33 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4946 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1222 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 25 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9121P |
| NTSB Number | FTW95FA402 |
| 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-24B-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24B-260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-4600 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Jun 24 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 98 |
| Airframe Hours | 7111 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FALCON RENTALS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1947 AVIATION WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLORADO SPRGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80916 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VGT |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | COS |
| Destination City | COLORADO SPRGS |
| 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 | -- |