Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
City Of Colo Sprgs Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Colo Springs, Colorado 80916
Sunday, March 9, 2003 13:46 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the take-off roll was "right on centerline." He rotated after attaining approximately 80 mph, retracted the landing gear, and accelerated to "90 mph." After climbing "approximately 50 to 100 feet in the air," he experienced "a gust and a strong downdraft" and the airplane would not climb. He said the gust and strong downdraft forced the airplane lower and to the right. He lowered the nose of the airplane in an attempt to gain airspeed. All instruments were in the "green" and the last indicated airspeed was 80-85 mph. The airplane impacted the ground approximately 170 feet right of the centerline, and 575 feet beyond the runway's threshold. The airplane slid approximately 140 additional feet. The engine mount was displaced, the firewall was torn, and the fuselage above the windshield was buckled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during initial climb which resulted in impact with terrain. Contributing factors include the downdraft, crosswind and gusty wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1346 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Colo Springs |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80916 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | City of Colo Sprgs Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | COS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 325 |
| Airport Elevation | 6184 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6184 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7764 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14223 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 10 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1338 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9313V |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA047 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 690091 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 76 |
| Airframe Hours | 3399 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lewis A. Hartwell, JR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 981 Redwing Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Coppel |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75019 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | COS |
| Departure City | Colorado Spring |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WDG |
| Destination City | Enid |
| Destination State | OK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2003 12:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35L |
| Runway Length | 11021 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |