Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Durango-La Plata Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Durango, Colorado 81301
Friday, February 10, 1984 19:27 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHEN THE PLT CALLED THE FSS AT 1341 MST, HE STATED HE HAD ALREADY RECEIVED SOME 'REAL TIME' WX & REQUESTED ONLY THE WX AT DURANGO & FARMINGTON, NM. HE FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN TO DURANGO & TOOK OFF AT 1437. DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO GET INTO VFR CONDITIONS TO LAND AT PAGOSA SPRINGS, ABOUT 30 MI ENE OF DURANGO. HOWEVER, HE WAS UNABLE, SO HE CONTD TO THE FILED DESTINATION. AN ILS/DME RWY 2 APCH WAS MADE TO CIRCLE & LAND ON RWY 20 AT DURANGO. AT 1925:44, THE PLT RADIOED THAT HE HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT. THE AIRCREW OF SUNWEST FLT 204 SAW N6400E BREAK OUT IN THE CLEAR & ENTER A LEFT DOWNWIND FOR RWY 20. HOWEVER, THEY LOST SIGHT OF N6400E AS IT WAS ABEAM OF THE APCH END OF RWY 20. APRX 5 SEC LATER, THECOPLT OF FLT 204 SAW THE LIGHTS OF N6400E BREAK OUT OF THE CLOUDS, & APRX 1 SEC LATER, HE SAW 'A LARGE GREEN BALL OF FIRE.' AN EXAM OF THE CRASH SITE REVEALED THE ACFT STRUCK A POWER LINE ABOUT 30 TO 35 FT AGL WHILE CONFIGURED FOR LANDING, THEN CRASHED. THE ELEV OF THE UNCONTROLLED ARPT WAS 6685 FT, THE CIRCLING MDA WAS 7100 FT. WND WAS GSTG 12 KTS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/10/1984 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1927 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | DURANGO |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81301 |
| Event Date Year | 1984 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | DURANGO-LA PLATA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DRO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 6684 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1920 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DRO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6684 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 12 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 437 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 24058 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6400E |
| NTSB Number | DEN84FA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 58P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 58P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TJ-400 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6200 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 20 1984 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 430 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MERRILL J. ANDERSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9517 WOODRIDGE DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | EDEN PRAIRE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55344 |
| 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 | 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 | -- |
| 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 | FGM |
| Departure City | EDEN PRAIRIE |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1438 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2001 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 9200 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |