Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Telluride Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Telluride, Colorado 81435
Thursday, September 30, 1999 11:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to takeoff from Montrose, Colorado, the pilot called Telluride airport, located 33.3 nm to the south, and asked an airport employee what the weather conditions were. He was advised the wind was calm. Prior to landing at Telluride, he listened to the airport's ASOS, and again the wind was calm. He then confirmed that with the airport's windsock. Touchdown and initial rollout on runway 09 were normal; however, after the aircraft's tail was lowered onto the runway, the airplane encountered a tailwind gust and ground looped. When the pilot exited the aircraft, he noted that the winds were out of the west. There is no recorded weather reporting facility at Telluride airport. The closest weather facility is located at Montrose. At 1053, the winds were reported from 290 degrees at 6 knots. According to the FAA's Airport/Facility Directory, all landings at Telluride should be performed on runway 09 to avoid populated areas.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An encounter with a sudden tailwind gust windshift during landing roll, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | TELLURIDE |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81435 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TELLURIDE REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TEX |
| 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 | 9078 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 33 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MTJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5759 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| 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) | 10751 |
| 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) | 598 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 30 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3799Z |
| NTSB Number | DEN99LA172 |
| 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-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-4795 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 14 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 1076 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PAUL ENGBRING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 365 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TELLURIDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81435 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BLAKE C. FREELAND |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 9570 INDIAN DR. |
| Operator City | MONTROSE |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 81401 |
| 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 | MTJ |
| Departure City | MONTROSE |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TEX |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 6870 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |