Tri-County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Erie, Colorado 80516
Sunday, January 26, 2003 15:14 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While landing on runway 33, the airplane encountered a strong crosswind. The airplane departed the right side of the runway. The pilot said the wing caught and the airplane flipped over on its back. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies. Approximately 27 minutes prior to the accident, the reported winds at the Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colorado, 197 degrees at 9 nautical miles from the accident site, was 280 degrees at 20 knots with gusts of 26 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during landing. Contributing factors were the high crosswinds and the gusts.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/26/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1514
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Erie
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80516
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 400034N
Event Location Longitude 1050250W
Event Location Airport Tri-County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 48V
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.025
Degrees magnetic from airport 150
Airport Elevation 5130
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1447 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 195
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5670
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 9
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 12000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 40
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 26
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) 6700
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13766
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Jan 26 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1545
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 26 2003 8:17AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado FADO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N320FR
NTSB Number DEN03LA037
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 Rothrock
Aircraft Model Cozy Mark IV
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number Rothrock 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 2050
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Mar 22 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48.1
Airframe Hours 125
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald R. Rothrock
Aircraft Owner Street Address 412 NW Tuscany Court
Aircraft Owner City Port St. Lucie
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34986
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name James R. Willar
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 4764 Beverly Lane
Operator City Erie
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80516
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 7CO0
Departure City ERIE
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 48V
Destination City Erie
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 4 2003 1:23PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 4700
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --