Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Englewood, Colorado 80112
Saturday, May 11, 1996 11:34 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the RV-4, N44AZ, had made initial contact with the control tower on the west arrival frequency, and was instructed to report entering a right downwind for runway 17R, which he acknowledged. At about the same time, the pilot of the Sukhoi SU-29, N55SU, made initial contact with the control tower on the east arrival frequency and was instructed to report on a left base for runway 17L. Both pilots were subsequently cleared to land on their respective runways. Instead of landing on his assigned runway 17R, the pilot of the RV-4 landed on 17L. The SU-29 then landed on top of the RV-4. The FAA's ATC handbook advises controllers to restate the landing runway whenever there is a possibilty of a conflict with another aircraft which is using or planning to use another runway. The threshold of runway 17R is 1,800 feet beyond the threshold of runway 17L. The airport was hosting an open house at the time, and airborne flights from a 'Parade of Flight' were in progress.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot of the RV-4, N44AZ, to comply with an ATC clearance by landing on the wrong runway, and the failure of the pilot of the SU-29, N55SU, to maintain an adequate visual lookout. Factors in the accident were: the failure of the air traffic controller to restate the landing runway to the pilot of the RV-4 during a critical period of flight, his failure to advise the pilot of the RV-4 that operations were being conducted on the adjacent runway, a high traffic workload which resulted from an airport open house, and a lack of coordination to accommodate the high traffic workload.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/11/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1134 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | ENGLEWOOD |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80112 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CENTENNIAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | APA |
| 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 | 5883 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1138 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5883 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7300 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 591 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 11 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1158 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N44AZ | N55SU |
| NTSB Number | FTW96FA208A | FTW96FA208B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | JERRELL | Sukhoi |
| Aircraft Model | RV-4 | SU-29 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RV-4 | SU-29 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 | 73-05 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 | 2600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 29 1996 12:00AM | Feb 8 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 | 29 |
| Airframe Hours | 223 | 123 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES L. LENAHAN | DONALD W. NELSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 118 N. 7TH ST. | 13860 E. HAMPDEN PL. |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLO. SPRNGS | AURORA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80905 | 80014 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | ||
| Operator State | ||
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 00V | FTG |
| Departure City | PEYTON | WATKINS |
| Departure State | CO | CO |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1050 | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | APA | APA |
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17L | 17L |
| Runway Length | 10001 | 10001 |
| Runway Width | 100 | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |