Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watkins, Colorado 80137
Thursday, July 2, 1998 19:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed at Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado, refueled, and waited 90 minutes for a thunderstorm to pass. He then took off en route to Englewood, Colorado. He returned to the airport shortly thereafter because he encountered 'steady state precipitation.' He waited for 30 minutes 'until the rain and virga passed and the wind [had] died down.' He took off from runway 17 into a 4 to 6 knot wind from 160 degrees. After climbing about 400 to 500 feet agl, he began to feel the airplane sinking rapidly. He maintained an airspeed of 60 to 65 knots during the descent, and the stall warning horn sounded intermittently. The airplane collided with rising terrain south of the airport. It was the pilot's opinion that he had encountered a microburst. At the time of the accident, Denver International Airport, located 10 miles northwest of Front Range Airport, reported there were several cumulonimbus clouds at 5500 feet in the area, with winds from the east at 20 knots, gusts to 26 knots, and peak winds at 30 knots. A line of cumulonimbus clouds, stretching from the northwest to the northeast, were moving north with rain showers to the northeast.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate evaluation of the weather which resulted in an encounter with a microburst. Contributing was the airplane's climb capability exceeded by the microburst, and rising terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1940 |
| 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 | 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 329 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 26 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7772 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 415 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2105 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7780U |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA295 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172251780 |
| 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 | Mar 14 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 5787 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BRADY L. DAVIS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 115 W. GODDING AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | TRINIDAD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80015 |
| 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 | FTG |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1940 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | APA |
| Destination City | ENGLEWOOD |
| Destination State | CO |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |