Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watkins, Colorado 80137
Wednesday, January 24, 2001 11:27 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed from runway 26 in the military jet trainer and made an immediate steep left hand turn at an estimated 100 to 300 feet above the ground. Approximately 30 seconds later, the back seat canopy transparency failed and separated from the aircraft. The back seat passenger's headset and hat accompanied the transparency fragments to the ground. The airplane began oscillating divergently, pitching up to near vertical, turned right, and impacted the ground longitudinally oriented approximately 60 degrees to the right of the energy track alignment. The airplane's most recent empty weight CG calculations indicate that the airplane was at 34.98% MAC; the factory recommends a 27.7% MAC empty weight CG. The airplane's flight CG (with two occupants and the main fuel tank full) was calculated to be 29.58% MAC. The manufacturer recommends an approximate flight CG of 23 to 25.5% MAC. As the CG moves aft of this envelope, aircraft control becomes progressively more sensitive. The manufacturer reported that their test pilot's have flown the airplane with CGs as high 34% to 35% MAC, and aircraft records indicate that the pilot had previous flight experience with CGs in the 29% to 30% MAC range. Aircraft records also indicate that the pilot had 38.6 hours of flight experience in the airplane in approximately 3 years, and 6.6 hours of experience during the last 18 months. The night before the accident, the pilot had returned from a trip around the world in his Boeing Business Jet, with multiple business stops along the way. Analysis of the rear canopy's transparency indicated that it was embrittled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control, and the subsequent inadvertent stall/mush. Factors were the pilot's diverted attention due to the failure of the rear canopy's acrylic transparency and the loss of communication with his back seat passenger, the pilot's lack of recent experience in make/model airplane, the airplane's improper aft weight distribution (center of gravity), and the pilot's fatigue (circadian rhythm).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/24/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1127 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Watkins |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80137 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394544N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1043445W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.35 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4792 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 11990 |
| NTSB Notification Source | DENVER APPROACH CONTROL |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 24 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1150 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, CO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N602MC |
| NTSB Number | DEN01FA044 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aero Vodochody Aero. Works |
| Aircraft Model | L-39CT |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 135234 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10166 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 18 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 118 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MAC Flightlease, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1828 N.W. Miller Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Portland |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97229 |
| 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 | FTG |
| Departure City | Watkins |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1126 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 19 2002 4:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |