Telluride Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Telluride, Colorado 81435
Friday, August 23, 1996 18:40 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the pilot lowered the landing gear, there was a total electrical failure. He said he could not recall if he observed a GEAR DOWN AND LOCKED indication. He attempted to reset the alternator/voltage regulator circuit breaker, but to no avail. During the landing, the main landing gear collapsed, but the nose landing gear remained down and locked. The airplane skidded off the runway, damaging the left horizontal stabilizer forward and aft spars. Postaccident examination by a repair facility (and later confirmed by the manufacturer) disclosed the generator control unit (GCU) had failed.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the generator control unit (GCU), which resulted in a total electrical failure and failure of the main landing gear to lock in place.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/23/1996
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1840
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City TELLURIDE
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81435
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport TELLURIDE REGIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TEX
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 9078
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1550 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID TEX
Elevation of weather observation facility 9078
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
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) 25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 10954
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1018
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 23 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2157
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:17AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N757QT
NTSB Number FTW96LA402
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model TR182
Aircraft Series Identifier TR182
Aircraft Serial Number R18201258
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
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 3 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 69
Airframe Hours 1710
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIAM A. STERN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5401 E. VALLE VISTA
Aircraft Owner City PHOENIX
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81435
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 1974
Operator City TELLURIDE
Operator State CO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 81435
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 FNL
Departure City LOVELAND
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TEX
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 9
Runway Length 6870
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --