Stapleton Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denver, Colorado 80207
Tuesady, February 27, 1990 19:47 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE CESSNA 208A WAS ON AN IFR FLT TO HAUL FREIGHT FROM ASPEN TO DENVER, COLORADO. MODERATE TO HEAVY ICING CONDITIONS WERE FORECAST FOR THE DENVER AREA. WHILE ON AN ILS RWY 36 APCH, THE ACFT ENCOUNTERED ICING CONDITIONS. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT ENTERED A STEEP DESCENT & CRASHED ABOUT 3 MI FROM THE APCH END OF THE RWY. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OF THE ACFT WAS FOUND DURING THE INVESTIGATION. THE 1950 MST WX AT THE ARPT WAS IN PART: 800' SCATTERED, 1000' BROKEN, VIS 4 MI WITH FREZZING DRIZZLE & SNOW SHOWERS, TEMP 28 DEG, DEW POINT 25 DEG.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE ACCUMULATION OF STRUCTURAL ICE AND SUBSEQUENT STALLING OF THE AIRCRAFT. THE ICING CONDITION WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/27/1990
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1947
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City DENVER
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80207
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport STAPLETON INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DEN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 5333
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1950 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 10
Weather Observation Facility ID DEN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5333
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 1000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 4000
Intensity of Precipitation Heavy
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) 1679
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 27 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1955
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42713
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:46PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N820FE
NTSB Number DEN90FA068
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 208A
Aircraft Series Identifier 208A
Aircraft Serial Number 2080043
Certified Max Gross Weight 8035
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jan 25 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 47
Airframe Hours 3227
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FEDERAL EXPRESS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3101 TCHULAHOMA
Aircraft Owner City MEMPHIS
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38118
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name P. M. AIR, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2635 EAST AIRPLANE
Operator City PHOENIX
Operator State AZ
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 85034
Operator Code PAZ
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ASE
Departure City ASPEN
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1845
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DEN
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 36
Runway Length 7750
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --