Fremont County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Canon City, Colorado 81240
Sunday, April 8, 2001 14:10 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot/passenger had recently traded the airplane and the new owner had contracted with the commercial pilot to ferry the airplane to his home base. The purpose of this flight was for the commercial pilot to familiarize himself with the airplane. The commercial pilot had no previous experience in this make/model of aircraft. A witness saw the airplane "flying very slowly" on the downwind leg approximately 200 feet agl. When the airplane was abeam the runway threshold, it "rolled to the left and dove inverted" into the ground. Another witness reported seeing the airplane "flutter" and "shake" before diving to the ground. A third witness said the airplane entered a left spin. The witnesses said that the westerly wind had been strong all day, estimated between 45 and 60 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot in command inadvertently allowing the airplane to stall/spin. Contributing factors were the pilot's total lack of experience in airplane make/model, and high wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/8/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1410
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City CANON CITY
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81240
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 382627N
Event Location Longitude 1050636W
Event Location Airport Fremont County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1V6
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 5439
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1354 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 95
Weather Observation Facility ID PUB
Elevation of weather observation facility 4726
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 17
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.63
Density Altitude (feet) 6842
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) 10860
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Apr 8 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1445
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 7:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N49DE
NTSB Number DEN01FA082
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Sandell
Aircraft Model Zenith CH 200
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number A-209
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Aug 29 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Frederick D. Burgess
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Penrose
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 812409024
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 1V6
Departure City Canon City
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone MDT
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 Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2001 11:24AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 5399
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --