Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dotsero, Colorado 81637
Sunday, October 31, 2004 15:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he did not file a flight plan for the flight stating that he wanted to "retain flexibility of refuel locations, based on observed weather patterns while en route." He stated that the en route weather conditions were known to be "VNR [visual flight rules not recommended] due to mountain obscuration and icing in clouds." The pilot stated that he opted for a "VFR over the top flight," while receiving en route weather updates. The departure was uneventful. At approximately 45 minutes in to the flight, the engine "failed." The pilot stated "no icing conditions were encountered." He "declared [an] emergency," and began to "search for holes," as the airplane descended into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) conditions. The airplane "broke out" of IMC, into poor visibility conditions, at approximately 1500 to 2000 feet agl. The pilot attempted to restart the engine, but the "propeller seized" while he was on a base turn for an attempted forced landing to a road. The airplane struck the top of several aspen trees, impacted the ground in a level attitude and nosed over. A post-impact fire destroyed the airplane. The local recorded weather conditions, temperature, minus 1 degree C; dew point, minus 2 degrees C, were conducive for "serious carburetor icing affects at glide and cruise power settings." During an examination, engine continuity was confirmed and no anomalies were noted that would have precluded normal engine operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper in-flight planning and decision making and the loss of engine power due to carburetor ice. Contributing factors include the weather conditions conducive for carburetor icing and the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/31/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Dotsero |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81637 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393923N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1070917W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1635 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KEGE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6535 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6211 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17424 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 31 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1826 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25HM |
| NTSB Number | DEN05LA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Miller |
| Aircraft Model | Vans RV4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1809 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Apr 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 150 |
| Airframe Hours | 505 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ryan Dahlin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 606 E. New Love Drive Apt E |
| Aircraft Owner City | Santa Maria |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93454 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | VEL |
| Departure City | Vernal |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | COS |
| Destination City | Colorado Spring |
| 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 | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |