Private Strip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greeley, Colorado 80631
Thursday, September 2, 2004 9:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he had just touched down short of his intended landing site and was rolling out when the nose wheel became stuck in the sand. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted near the river causing substantial damage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's improper in-flight decision to land on an unimproved surface and the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing to the accident was the soft landing surface.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/2/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Greeley
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80631
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 402100N
Event Location Longitude 1042430W
Event Location Airport Private Strip
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 855 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID GXY
Elevation of weather observation facility 4697
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
Density Altitude (feet) 5930
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) 17141
NTSB Notification Source William G. VanHorn
NTSB Notification Date Sep 2 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1028
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 27 2005 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver FAA Flight Standards District Office

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6XJ
NTSB Number DEN04LA144
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 Aviat
Aircraft Model A-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1386
Certified Max Gross Weight 1800
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 Mar 20 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 527
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name On File
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Estes Park
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80517
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 2V2
Departure City LONGMONT
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 800
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code GXY
Destination City Greeley
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 16 2004 3:32PM
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 --