Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Buckhorn Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crested Butte, Colorado 81224
Tuesady, December 18, 2001 10:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said the runway was covered by a thin layer of snow that had recently been plowed. The airplane touched down, rolled about 10 feet, and began "pulling" to the left. The pilot applied right rudder but to no avail. He applied full right aileron and lifted the left wing to clear an 18-inch snow bank on the side of the runway. The airplane traveled another 100 feet before the left wing lost lift and settled back down to the runway. The airplane "went through snow," spun around, and stopped 20 feet off the side of the runway. The pilot found a skid mark on the runway made by the left wheel. He suspected the wheel may have gotten wet when he had taxied for takeoff and the brake froze. He said the temperature at 12,000 feet was -20 degrees F.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a wet brake that later froze resulting in a loss of directional control on landing. A contributing factor was the snow bank.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Crested Butte |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81224 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Buckhorn Ranch |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0CO2 |
| 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 | 8980 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1115 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 266 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GUC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 98 |
| 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) | -10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2619 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12057 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 18 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2002 9:28AM |
| 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 | N8704W |
| NTSB Number | DEN02LA015 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-10237 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 179 |
| Airframe Hours | 2264 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Cherokee Flyers, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 998 24 Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grand Junction |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81505 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jerry W. Elliott |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GJT |
| Departure City | Grand Junction |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 0CO2 |
| Destination City | Crested Butte |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 15 2002 12:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |