Longmont Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Longmont, Colorado 80503
Thursday, August 14, 1997 20:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot elected to land on runway 29 because the 'wind (was) light with (a) south component.' The airplane bounced and veered left and the pilot overcorrected. The aircraft began swerving and the pilot overcorrected again to the right, 'inadvertently using rudder and brake.' The airplane then ground looped. The computed crosswind component was 3-1/2 knots and the tailwind component was 6 knots. The left main landing gear was sheared off, and both the forward and aft left wing spars were bent.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot in command's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/14/1997
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2030
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City LONGMONT
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80503
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 LONGMONT AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2V2
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 5052
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2045 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5670
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 29
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 8000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 45
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 7130
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 446
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 14 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2334
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 N2849M
NTSB Number FTW97LA312
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-12
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-12
Aircraft Serial Number 12-1402
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 5 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 2881
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name 49 MIKE PARTNERSHIP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2035 TOPAZ DR
Aircraft Owner City BOULDER
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80304
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ALVIN M. TERRY
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 8015 N. 107
Operator City LONGMONT
Operator State CO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 80501
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 7V1
Departure City BUENA VISTA
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1920
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 2V2
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 29
Runway Length 4200
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --