Aurora Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Watkins, Colorado 80137
Sunday, September 9, 2001 10:45 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot landed the airplane on runway 14. He stated that "just after touching down, a strong gust of wind caused the Stearman to start to drift." He added full power to abort the landing. The airplane touched down several times on open land as it attempted to get airborne. The pilot then saw power poles and lines and realized he would be unable to climb over them. He lowered the nose and attempted to fly under the lines. The left wing was torn off when it struck a pole guy wire, and the airplane came to a halt resting on its nose. Recorded winds 6 miles north of the accident site were from 210 degrees at 8 knots. Witnesses said the wind was calm.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain clearance with the guy wire.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/9/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1045
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Watkins
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80137
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Aurora Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 01V
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 Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 350
Weather Observation Facility ID DEN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5431
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
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) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11478
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER
NTSB Notification Date Sep 9 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1903
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2002 1:46PM
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 N1259V
NTSB Number DEN01LA159
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Boeing
Aircraft Model A75N1 (PT17)
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 75-8604
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Aug 28 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 98
Airframe Hours 3388
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name STEARMAN SCENIC RIDES AND AVN SVCS, INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4347 Dunkirk Way
Aircraft Owner City Denver
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80249
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 7811 S. Peoria St.
Operator City Englewood
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80112
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 01V
Departure City Watkins
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 945
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 01V
Destination City Watkins
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 28 2002 10:54AM
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 Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --