Vance Brand Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Longmont, Colorado 80502
Monday, August 14, 2000 10:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing, the airplane exited the right side of the runway and the left wing impacted the ground. The pilot taxied to his hangar. Postaccident examination was delayed several months (until December 11, 2000) to allow Sukhoi representatives to assess the damage. They determined that several structural tubes just aft of the engine firewall needed to be replaced. The damaged area of the fuselage was where the main landing gear attached to the fuselage. It could not be determined if the structural damage that occurred on August 14, 2000, was the result of one landing or progressive damage from several landings. The tubes that needed replacement following the August 14, 2000, event had been previously damaged (bent or broken) during an accident on May 11, 1996. At that time, several unsuccessful attempts were made to acquire Russian materials and technical assistance. The decision was made to perform the repairs using American materials. According to the Sukhoi representatives, the American tubing and welding rods were 'incompatible' with the original Russian materials.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The inadequate structural materials (American manufactured verses original Russian materials) used during a major repair.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/14/2000
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City LONGMONT
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80502
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Vance Brand Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2V2
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5052
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14214
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Dec 11 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N55SU
NTSB Number DEN01LA026
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 Sukhoi
Aircraft Model SU-29
Aircraft Series Identifier SU-29
Aircraft Serial Number 73-05
Certified Max Gross Weight 2611
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Unknown
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 AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Feb 5 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 66
Airframe Hours 446
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RICHARD A. BASILIERE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 420 E. NEBRASKA AVE
Aircraft Owner City BERTHOUD
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80513
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code 2V2
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2003 5:04PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 4800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --