Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Luis Valley Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alamosa, Colorado 81101
Tuesady, March 20, 2001 11:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had just passed over the airport at 9500 feet mean sea level and entered the downwind leg for the approach to runway 20. At that moment he encountered a flock of large birds that flew up from below. One bird struck the leading edge of the right wing at approximately 3 feet inboard of the tip tank. The pilot declared an emergency and landed without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing's leading edge, skin, wing spar and auxiliary fuel cells. At the time of the accident, winds were light and variable at 3 knots. The bird was identified as an adult sand hill crane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight collision with a large bird during downwind approach for landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/20/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Alamosa |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81101 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | San Luis Valley Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KALS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 60 |
| Airport Elevation | 7539 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1052 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KALS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7539 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8239 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10237 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 20 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1540 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9940F |
| NTSB Number | DEN01LA073 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 340 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 340-0173 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6290 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 79.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 5429.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Leavitt Enterprises Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. Box 130 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cedar City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84721 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CDC |
| Departure City | Cedar City |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Alamosa |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2001 11:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 8800 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |