Eagle County Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Eagle, Colorado 81631
Friday, July 15, 2005 9:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A witness saw the airplane approach from the east. She said that the airplane came in "pretty fast" and touched down "approximately half way down the runway." The witness said, "The nose was down. He hit the ground and within 3 seconds he was off the runway and gone. Then all you saw was smoke." The witness said when the airplane hit "the front end shook. It wobbled like a kid on a tricycle. When it shook, it kind of looked like it [the airplane] bounced. Then it was gone." The control tower operator said he heard the captain say something over the radio, which caused him to look in the direction of the airplane. The tower operator saw the airplane off the runway, the main landing gear came off behind the airplane, and the airplane caught fire. The tower operator said he saw four people get out of the airplane. The airplane came to rest in a shallow ravine approximately 331 feet north of the runway. An examination of the airplane showed impact damage to the nose gear and nose gear wheel well. An examination of the airplane's systems revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's improper flare resulting in the hard landing and the fractured nose gear attachment, and the subsequent loss of control. Factors contributing to the accident were the high airspeed on approach, the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision, and the pilot's inability to maintain directional control after the gear failure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/15/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 930
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Eagle
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81631
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393833N
Event Location Longitude 1065604W
Event Location Airport Eagle County Regional Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID EGE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 6535
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 924 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID EGE
Elevation of weather observation facility 6535
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.35
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 3
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19337
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Jul 15 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 28 2006 1:55PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N620JM
NTSB Number DEN05LA111
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Gates Learjet
Aircraft Model 35A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 207
Certified Max Gross Weight 18300
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 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Apr 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 93
Airframe Hours 8234
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aspen Base Operation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 69 E. Airport Road
Aircraft Owner City Aspen
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81611
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 CKBA
Owner has at least one certificate --
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 ASE
Departure City Aspen
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 915
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code EGE
Destination City Eagle
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 3 2006 3:40PM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 8000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --