La Plata County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Durango, Colorado 81301
Saturday, December 30, 1995 13:15 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing roll, when the nose wheel was lowered to the runway, the aircraft veered right and departed the side of the runway into rough terrain. During this excursion, the landing gear collapsed. Examination of the aircraft provided evidence of a failure of the left nose wheel steering rod. The fracture surface on the rod displayed evidence of overstress.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the nose wheel steering mechanism which rendered the aircraft uncontrollable on the ground. A factor was the rough and uneven terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/30/1995
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City DURANGO
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81301
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LA PLATA COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DRO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 6685
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by briefer
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1346 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID DRO
Elevation of weather observation facility 6685
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
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) 2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2040
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 30 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1843
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:51PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7356V
NTSB Number FTW96LA082
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BELLANCA
Aircraft Model 17-30
Aircraft Series Identifier 17-30
Aircraft Serial Number 30192
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
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 Sep 1 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DON MUCHOW
Aircraft Owner Street Address 703 EAST THIRD AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City DURANGO
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81301
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code DRO
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
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 20
Runway Length 9200
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --