Arriba (Private) Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Arriba, Colorado 80804
Saturday, August 9, 1997 18:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

At the end of a cross-country flight to an unfamiliar private grass landing strip, the pilot performed a normal landing. The landing strip was soft, and when the pilot lowered the nose wheel to the ground during landing roll, it dug-in, and the aircraft nosed over. The owner's manual did not contain any procedure or information regarding soft field landings.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to properly plan the flight and determine the field conditions before landing. The soft runway condition was a related factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/9/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City ARRIBA
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80804
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ARRIBA (PRIVATE)
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
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 5128
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
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 Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) 7300
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1145
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 9 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N182WJ
NTSB Number FTW97LA308
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 182P
Aircraft Series Identifier 182P
Aircraft Serial Number 18262737
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 27 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 14
Airframe Hours 2750
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WINGS OF DENVER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7625 S. PEORIA
Aircraft Owner City ENGLEWOOD
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80112
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name MICHAEL FREILINGER
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1194 S. TROY STREET
Operator City AURORA
Operator State CO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 80012
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 APA
Departure City ENGLEWOOD
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NONE
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 17
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 65
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --