Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cottonwood Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rocky Ford, Colorado 81077
Friday, July 8, 2005 9:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had a history of uncommanded flap retraction, but an airworthiness inspector could find no anomalies. The pilot took off to practice touch-and-go landings. The first landing, using 20 degrees of flaps, was without incident. On the second landing approach, he used 30 degrees of flaps. The airplane began to settle and the pilot added full power and pulled aft on the control yoke. The airplane landed hard and short of the runway. The pilot closed the throttle. The airplane struck a dirt bank and nosed over. As the pilot climbed out, he noticed the flap indicator "was at about 2 degrees." In a later interview with an FAA inspector, the pilot said no discrepancies were found with the flap system and that it was likely he had inadvertently retracted the flaps.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's misjudged distance/altitude. A contributing factor was the inadvertent flap retraction.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/8/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 915 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rocky Ford |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81077 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 380500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1034157W |
| Event Location Airport | Cottonwood |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UNK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4200 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18787 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 8 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2005 6:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6839G |
| NTSB Number | DEN05LA104 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15072339 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | May 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2.47 |
| Airframe Hours | 4030.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Fred Piatt Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 29272 County Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rocky Ford |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80154 |
| 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 | ASEL |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Rocky Ford |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2005 1:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2800 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |