Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Fort Collins Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525
Friday, July 25, 1997 9:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During initial climb following takeoff on a cross-country flight, the aircraft failed to attain a sustained climb and impacted in a field approximately 2 miles from the departure end of the runway. Weather conditions at the time were temperature 92 degrees F, wind calm, and the airport elevation was 4,699 feet msl. The aircraft had been modified by STC to a tailwheel configuration. The Owner's Manual in the aircraft was for the wrong year and model. The aircraft was 32 pounds over maximum gross weight. The pilot was using 10 degrees flaps for takeoff. There are no performance charts for the use of flaps for takeoff and in the narrative portion of the Owner's Manual. The manual recommends that flaps not be used for takeoff from high altitude airports on hot days. In addition, the aircraft was out of annual, the pilot had a forged medical certificate, some work on the aircraft had been performed by the pilot and signed off and he did not possess a mechanic license, and the signatures on the spark plugs revealed the aircraft engine was not leaned for optimum performance.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate preflight planning by loading the aircraft over the maximum certificated gross weight, failure to follow procedures and directives by using flaps for takeoff and failing to properly lean the engine for optimum power, and stalling the aircraft. Factors were: Poor judgement by the pilot in operating the aircraft without a current annual inspection, for forging his medical certificate, and failing to obtain and use the proper Owner's Manual for the aircraft. Also, factors were insufficient requirements for the Owner's Manual by the FAA and inadequate aircraft manual information by the manufacturer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | FORT COLLINS |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80525 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FORT COLLINS DOWNTOWN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3V5 |
| 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 | 290 |
| Airport Elevation | 4935 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8300 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1331 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 25 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4228U |
| NTSB Number | FTW97FA280 |
| 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 | 150D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15060228 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 3156 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JEFFERY L. KOSTER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2224 HIAWATHA CT. |
| Aircraft Owner City | FORT COLLINS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80525 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 3V5 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 913 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | D02 |
| Destination City | OSAGE |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 29 |
| Runway Length | 4699 |
| Runway Width | 48 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |