Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Front Range Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watkins, Colorado 80137
Sunday, May 17, 1998 21:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that he experienced a total electrical failure while on a night cross-country flight. He landed without incident but while taxiing along the unlit taxiway, he lost sight of the centerline stripe. The airplane went off the taxiway and down an embankment. The airport night manager said the pilot told him he would 'turn on the navigation lights, if necessary,' to warn other airplanes. Postaccident inspection disclosed that when the master switch was turned on, all electrical components functioned normally. A specific gravity check indicated the battery was fully charged. According to the operator's records, the Hobbs meter and tachometer registered 65.9 and 3903.3, respectively, when the pilot checked the airplane out. At the accident site, the Hobbs meter and tachometer registered 67.6 and 3905.1, respectively, a Hobbs meter difference of 1.7 hours and a tachometer difference of 1.8 hours. The operator said he believed the pilot had turned off the master switch in an attempt to save on rental charges. He had also received reports from other renter pilots who said the pilot had bragged about saving money by turning off the master switch. An FAA inspector said that, based on the point where the aircraft departed the taxiway and its point of impact, taxi speed was excessive.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain visual contact with the taxiway. Factors were the pilot's disabling the electrical system by turning off the master switch, a dark night, and excessive taxi speed.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/17/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | WATKINS |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80137 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FRONT RANGE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FTG |
| 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 | 5512 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6653 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 322 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 17 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1306W |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA222 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 194 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 7 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 3905 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARTIN W. BRINK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11913 E. MAPLE ST., APT. E-5 |
| Aircraft Owner City | AURORA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80012 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FLIGHT TRAINING, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5200 FRONT RANGE PKY. |
| Operator City | WATKINS |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 80137 |
| 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 | AKO |
| Departure City | AKRON |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2030 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FTG |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |