Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Englewood, Colorado 80112
Thursday, January 6, 2005 10:33 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the captain, he was cleared for a visual approach to runway 17L, which was confirmed and acknowledged. Approximately 30 seconds prior to landing, he was advised to "go around or sidestep" to runway 17R. He accepted the "sidestep" and was cleared to land runway 17R. The captain continued the approach, sidestepped to runway 17R and landed. After landing, the tower advised the captain that he had landed on taxiway Bravo. According to a witness who had completed several approaches after the Gulfstream, runway 17L and taxiway Bravo, were both "clean and clear," and runway 17R was snow covered. Taxiway Bravo is positioned between runway 17L and runway 17R. The "black" surface of runway 17L and taxiway Bravo created a "strong" contrast with the surrounding snow covered ground. Runway 17R had much less of a contrast due to the snow that remained on it. The airport's notices to airman (NOTAM) did not identify that runway 17R was snow covered.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the flight crew's misidentification of the parallel taxiway as an active runway, resulting in the flight crew executing a landing on the taxiway. Contributing factors include the airport's inadequate snow removal, the snow-covered runway, the visual illusions created by the airport surface environment, and the flight crew's airport familiarization.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 1/6/2005
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1033
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Englewood
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80112
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Centennial Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
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
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KAPA
Elevation of weather observation facility 5883
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 80
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) 0
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.66
Density Altitude (feet) 5728
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 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17924
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Jan 6 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2005 10:33AM
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 N111FA
NTSB Number DEN05IA049
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Gulfstream American
Aircraft Model G-1159A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 307
Certified Max Gross Weight 62500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Foreign Reg./Foreign Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 15
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7389
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Falconcrest Aviation LLC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 502 E John St
Aircraft Owner City Carson City
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89706
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FXE
Departure City Fort Lauderdale
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 600
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code APA
Destination City Englewood
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 26 2005 11:53AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
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 --