Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Limon, Colorado 80828
Monday, July 5, 2004 13:15 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane took off but was unable to climb sufficiently to avoid rising terrain. It also lost altitude in a turn, and the pilot felt he would be unable to return to the airport. He elected to land in a wheat field. The airplane sustained no damage. The pilot then decided to take off but without the passenger on board. After determining a suitable path to follow, a soft-field takeoff procedure was utilized. During the takeoff roll, the airplane contacted soft dirt and nosed over onto its back.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation. A contributing factor was the soft terrain in the takeoff area.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/5/2004
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Limon
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80828
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391627N
Event Location Longitude 1033958W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1155 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID LIC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5365
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 9000
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.09
Density Altitude (feet) 7927
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16248
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Jul 6 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1006
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, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1480E
NTSB Number DEN04CA100
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 Aeronca
Aircraft Model 7AC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7AC-5403
Certified Max Gross Weight 1220
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 5 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 1704
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Griffon Holder
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Rocky Ford
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81067
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Michael C. Brown
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address On File
Operator City Windsor
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80550
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 LIC
Departure City Limon
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FTG
Destination City Watkins
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - roll/run
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 10 2004 12:35PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --