Front Range Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Aurora, Colorado 80010
Saturday, September 9, 2000 22:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the night cross-country flight, the engine started to run rough and then seized. The pilot made an emergency descent and completed a forced landing in a rough field. Upon impact with the ground, the nose gear strut collapsed and buckled the firewall. A post accident engine teardown examination identified that the engine oil pump shaft or 'idler pin' for the driven gear had worked free from its pressed-in position on the accessory case. The movement of the pin allowed it to fracture through the engine oil pump cover plate and come in contact with the tachometer drive gear resulting in the fracture of the tachometer drive gear shaft. The fracture of the tachometer drive shaft resulted in the failure of the engine oil pump resulting in the loss of engine oil pressure and the subsequent total loss of engine power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The unsuitable terrain for a forced landing. Contributing factors were the total loss of engine power due to the failure of the engine oil pump and the dark night light conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/9/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 2230
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City AURORA
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80010
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport FRONT RANGE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FTG
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 8
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2253 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID APA
Elevation of weather observation facility 5883
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 61
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 37
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
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) 7311
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 1
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10022
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER
NTSB Notification Date Sep 9 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2305
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2001 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1036V
NTSB Number DEN00LA167
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model R172K
Aircraft Series Identifier R172K
Aircraft Serial Number R172 2089
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Sep 3 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 7709
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AURORA AIRCRAFT, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 20521 E. COOLIDGE PLACE
Aircraft Owner City AURORA
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80011
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code APA
Departure City ENGLEWOOD
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 2200
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FTG
Destination City WATKINS
Destination State CO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2001 3:40PM
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 --