Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Franktown, Colorado 80116
Sunday, July 26, 1998 22:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot flew to Centennial Airport to practice touch and go landings. He departed the airport traffic pattern on an easterly heading, tuned the no. 1 navigation receiver to the Falcon Vortac, and rotated the OBS (Omni Bearing Selector) to 350 degrees. It was his intention to cross the 360 degree radial (sic, 180 degree radial), and then fly direct to the Falcon Vortac and direct to Front Range Airport. This route would avoid the Buckley ANG and Denver International Airport airspace. After he flew what he thought was an easterly heading the evidence indicates it was most probably a south-southeasterly heading) for 8 to 10 minutes and noting the CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) needle had failed to center, he made a shallow 360 degree turn and looked for recognizable landmarks. He then rotated the OBS to go direct to the Falcon Vortac, 'reset the directional gyro to the magnetic compass, making a significant correction,' and descended to 6,500 feet msl. After flying this heading for a minute, the airplane collided with terrain 11 miles southeast of Centennial Airport. Weather conditions at Centennial Airport consisted of clear skies and greater than 10 miles visibility. The pilot said it was a dark night.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Flight at an altitude insufficient to clear terrain. Factors were the pilot's failure to reset or correct a precessing directional gyro, his becoming lost/disoriented, and dark night light conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2200 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | FRANKTOWN |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80116 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2300 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 325 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6520 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7720 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 550 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 27 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 114 |
| 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 | N5147N |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA335 |
| 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 | 172M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17261417 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 6 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 90 |
| Airframe Hours | 9078 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PETER CARLSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1691 DUNKIRK CT. |
| Aircraft Owner City | AURORA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80011 |
| 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 PKWY |
| 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 | FTG |
| Departure City | WATKINS |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2045 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | -- |