Front Range Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Watkins, Colorado 80137
Saturday, October 19, 2002 12:41 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After taking off on runway 26 and turning onto the crosswind leg, the pilot noticed the rear engine oil pressure was dropping. After turning onto the downwind leg, the pilot reduced power on the rear engine to idle. When he was on final approach and felt assured of landing on the runway, he shut down the rear engine. When he retarded the throttle on the front engine, he noticed power was not decreasing. He secured the front engine by turning off the ignition and glided to a landing but he forgot to lower the nose landing gear. The airplane touched down, the nose struck the runway, and the airplane skidded to a halt on the runway. The airplane's nose section, including the "Rhino" rudder, was crushed and several fuselage bulkheads were buckled. The front engine throttle cable was found broken, and there was a broken oil pressure sensor line in the rear engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to use the checklist, resulting in his forgetting to lower the nose landing gear. Contributing factors included the pilot's attention being diverted by the loss of oil pressure on the rear engine due to a broken oil pressure sensor line, and a broken throttle cable on the front engine, requiring an airborne shutdown using the ignition switches.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/19/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1241
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Watkins
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80137
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 394707N
Event Location Longitude 1043235W
Event Location Airport Front Range
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FTG
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 5512
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1243 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID FTG
Elevation of weather observation facility 5512
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
Density Altitude (feet) 6263
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13324
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Oct 19 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1110
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
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 N219DF
NTSB Number DEN03LA010
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 Hildebrandt
Aircraft Model Rutan/Defiant
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 039
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
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 4
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 16 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 605
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gregory A. Benson
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Denver
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80211
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 No
Departure Airport Code FTG
Departure City Watkins
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1240
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code FTG
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 8000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --