Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Luis, Colorado 81152
Saturday, December 25, 1999 11:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he approached the 12,560 foot mountain pass with 500 to 600 feet of clearance, but a 'strong downdraft forced me into the ground within 2 seconds; like a fly swatter.' He said that as he descended, his flight controls 'had no fell in them.' Rescue teams reached the pilot approximately 25 hours later. A pilot (with a glider rating), who reported flying within 5 miles of the accident site, said that there were lenticular clouds over the mountain all day, and the wind was blowing from east-southeast to west. A law enforcement officer said that he drove up the mountain as far as he could on the night of the accident, and the wind was blowing westward down the mountain 40 to 60 miles per hour (mph). The pilot said that the wind was 40 to 50 mph from the east. The computed density altitude was approximately 12,306 feet. The pilot said that he recommended that he should have 'possibly [flown] higher or not [have] attempt[ed] to fly over the ridge at all.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision, and the subsequent inadvertent stall/mush. Factors were the pilot's lack of total experience in mountain flying, the high density altitude, and downdraft weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/25/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | SAN LUIS |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81152 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1152 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7535 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 12306 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1390 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 26 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1912 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 9:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1941B |
| NTSB Number | DEN00LA031 |
| 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 | Luscombe |
| Aircraft Model | 8E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 8E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6455 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| 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 | Jun 19 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 120 |
| Airframe Hours | 2400 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES A. COCKE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 20801 GRANDVIEW RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | VALLE DE ORO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79010 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LXV |
| Departure City | LEADVILLE |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AMA |
| Destination City | AMARILLO |
| Destination State | TX |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |