Erie Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Erie, Colorado 80516
Sunday, March 23, 2003 15:50 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor was demonstrating a crosswind landing to her student. She estimated the wind to be from 270 degrees at 15 to 20 knots. After landing on runway 33, the airplane veered to the right. She applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing, but could not return the airplane to the runway centerline. She then closed the throttle. The airplane departed the runway, settled in snow-covered mud, and nosed over. The left wing lift strut was bent and the wing was buckled.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during aborted landing. Contributing factors include the crosswind component, and the snow covered muddy terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/23/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1550
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 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 400037N
Event Location Longitude 1050252W
Event Location Airport Erie Municipal
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5130
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1551 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
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 MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
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) 70
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.79
Density Altitude (feet) 6902
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) 13960
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Mar 23 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1707
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
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 N3544Q
NTSB Number DEN03LA052
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 172S8903
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 3 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 82
Airframe Hours 569
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Rocky Mountain Flight Consultants, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5848 Rustin Knoll Drive
Aircraft Owner City Boulder
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80301
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Specialty Flight Training, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 395 Airport Drive
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BJC
Departure City Broomfield
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone MST
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 --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 14 2003 12:59PM
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 --