Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nederland, Colorado 80466
Saturday, June 5, 1999 10:19 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed Lee's Summit, Missouri, on the morning of the accident to visit family members in Kremmling, Colorado. He initiated flight following services with Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and then Denver TRACON while en route and at 1015:31, services were terminated. The pilot was advised to re-contact Denver ARTCC for further advisories, but failed to do so. The last National Track Analysis Program (NTAP) radar 'hit' of the accident airplane was at 1019:23 at an altitude of 12,600 feet. According to witnesses working several miles east of the accident site, they heard an airplane flying overhead traveling east to west and low to the ground; however, low cloud cover, snow and poor visibility prevented them from viewing the aircraft. A squall line 3 miles wide running north/south was passing through the area, with hail and cloud to cloud lightening. The mountains to the west and the direction in which the airplane was traveling were obscured. At 1943, an alert notice (ALNOT) was issued. A search was initiated, and the aircraft was located at 1430 the following afternoon. The airplane was found along a 45 degree inclining slope at an elevation of 12,808 feet mean sea level on a glacier along the north face of Arapaho Peak on the east side of the Continental Divide.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's intentional and continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Factors were his failure to obtain a weather briefing, the existing weather conditions that included snow, hail, obscuration and lightning, and the mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/5/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1019 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | NEDERLAND |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80466 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 392 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 6 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N68VT |
| NTSB Number | DEN99FA093 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | V35A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-8656 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 12 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MESSER CROWN & BRIDGE LAB INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1505 DUCK RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRANDVIEW |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 64030 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | KENNETH R. MESSER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 18309 CLEVELAND |
| Operator City | BELTON |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 64012 |
| 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 | LXT |
| Departure City | LEE'S SUMMIT |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 20V |
| Destination City | KREMMLING |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |