Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Front Range Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watkins, Colorado 80137
Thursday, July 17, 2003 9:41 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On the second touch and go, the flight instructor said she added full throttle and, as the airplane started to rotate, her seat released and slid aft, causing her to lose her grip on the flight controls. The airplane departed the runway to the left, struck the ground, and traveled 785 feet before colliding with the two unoccupied airplanes, located on the ramp causing substantial damage to the accident airplane. Post examination of the seat rails revealed no anomalies. When brought to the full forward position, the inboard seat pin would not engage fully into the seat track. When force was applied, the seat would move aft. According to a Cessna representative, the outboard seat pin was installed on the outboard side of the seat handle and should be installed on the inboard side of the seat handle. An examination of the remaining aircraft systems revealed no anomalies. The Cessna Model 172 Series Service Manual provides only an illustration addressing the installation of the seat pins. There is no textual data available for installation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the right seat shifting aft during the take off roll, rendering aircraft control not possible by the flight instructor. Contributing factors include the inboard seat pin which did not engage fully, the outboard seat pin which was installed incorrectly, the inadequate installation procedures provided by the manufacturer and the parked aircraft on the ramp.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 941 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Watkins |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80137 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 394701N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1043206W |
| 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 | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 5512 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8154 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16244 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, CO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98969 |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA132 |
| 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 | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17276389 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1414 |
| 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 | May 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 10581.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wings of Denver |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7625 South Peoria Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Englewood |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80112 |
| 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 | OJJS |
| 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 | APA |
| Departure City | Englewood |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 16 2004 1:37PM |
| 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 | -- |