Erie-Tri-County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Erie, Colorado 80516
Saturday, May 13, 2000 14:14 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During climb to cruise on a cross-country flight the passenger door came open and the pilot made a precautionary approach for landing at an airport along his route. After initiating descent for landing, the pilot discovered that the engine had lost all power. The landing was made short of the intended runway with the landing gear retracted. Following the landing, and evacuation of the aircraft by the pilot and his passengers, witnesses found the cockpit fully configured for flight with the throttle and propeller controls full forward and the magnetos and master switch on. However, the mixture was in the cutoff position. Examination and testing of the passenger door revealed no abnormalities. The flight was the pilot's first flight after being signed off as competent to perform as pilot in command in this make and model aircraft. He had accumulated approximately 4 hours flight experience in the aircraft with a total flight time of 207 hours all in single engine land airplanes.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Inadvertent cut off of the mixture by the pilot. Factors were: The passenger door opening, the pilot's inexperience in make and model, and rough, uneven terrain in the landing area.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/13/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1414
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City ERIE
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80516
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ERIE-TRI-COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 48V
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 150
Airport Elevation 5130
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1345 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 175
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5671
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 80
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 7100
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 120
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER
NTSB Notification Date May 13 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1448
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 N6643Q
NTSB Number DEN00LA088
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model V35B
Aircraft Series Identifier V35B
Aircraft Serial Number D-10265
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 13 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 2840
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TEN HIGH FLYERS, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1855 SOUTH AMMONS STREET
Aircraft Owner City LAKEWOOD
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80232
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name DAVE L. SHERMAN
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 13390 WEST 72ND CIRCLE
Operator City ARVADA
Operator State CO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 80005
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 BJC
Departure City BROOMFIELD
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1355
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HSI
Destination City HASTINGS
Destination State NE
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 33
Runway Length 4700
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --