Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pueblo, Colorado 81007
Saturday, May 31, 2003 17:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane sustained substantial damage when it encountered hail while in cruise flight. Halfway through the flight, Denver Center advised the pilot "that [his] intersection was closed due to weather" and they changed his route. The flight was at 29,000 feet and was cleared to descend to 27,000 feet. The pilot asked center how long he would be in the rain. The controller replied you should be out of the rain in about 1 or 2 minutes. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft encountered "severe hail, lightning, and turbulence." Weather radar indicated this route of flight passed near an area of moderate thunderstorm activity. The pilot continued to his destination and landed without further incident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions. Contributing factors include the encounter with severe turbulence and hail.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/31/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Pueblo
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81007
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 320520N
Event Location Longitude 1050507W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PUB
Elevation of weather observation facility --
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 14888
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date May 31 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1835
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 8:07AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N425SG
NTSB Number DEN03LA095
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 425
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 425-0166
Certified Max Gross Weight 7800
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 14 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 3854
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name S Gavit Aviation LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Littleton
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80127
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 PGA
Departure City PAGE
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code APA
Destination City Englewood
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 22 2003 3:13PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --