Jefferson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Broomfield, Colorado 80038
Sunday, June 1, 1997 13:21 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During an airshow, the pilot was performing a reverse half-Cuban eight. He flew down the runway at approximately 400 feet above ground level (agl) and pulled up using a 45-degree nose up attitude. At approximately 2,500 feet agl, the pilot rolled the aircraft inverted and pulled to a vertical nose down attitude. He failed to recover from the dive and the aircraft struck the ground in a 5-degree nose down attitude with a high sink rate. Ground speed at the time of impact was approximately 485 knots. According to persons at the airshow who are aerobatics pilots, the maneuver being performed by this aircraft should be started no lower than 4,000 feet agl, and part of the altitude gain should be used to bleed off excess airspeed. Videos of the performance depict the speed brakes deployed, the vertical stabilizer moving up and down, and the leading edge devices deployed while the aircraft was in the dive.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Inadequate planning and decision making by the pilot in starting the aerobatic maneuver at an insufficient altitude to successfully complete the maneuver.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/1/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1321
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City BROOMFIELD
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80038
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport JEFFERSON COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BJC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport 160
Airport Elevation 5671
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1322 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 340
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5671
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 8000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 70
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) 7400
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 2
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1903
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 1 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1345
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:20PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N86EX
NTSB Number FTW97FA207
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 Canadair
Aircraft Model F-86E MK.6
Aircraft Series Identifier F-86E MK.6
Aircraft Serial Number 1489
Certified Max Gross Weight 17100
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Mar 8 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1978
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JACK M. ROSAMOND
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1935 COLUMBINE CT.
Aircraft Owner City GOLDEN
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80401
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code BJC
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1306
Departure Time Zone MDT
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 Maneuvering
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 29R
Runway Length 9000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --