Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vail, Colorado 81657
Friday, August 19, 2005 9:50 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he was flying eastbound along Interstate 70 with the intention of taking pictures. The pilot stated they encountered several "extreme" downdrafts and were unable to maintain altitude. The pilot stated he performed a "touch and go" landing in the eastbound lane of the interstate and was able to fly 50 to 75 feet above the road. The airplane encountered another downdraft, impacted the eastbound lane of the interstate, impacted a highway sign and bounced over the concrete barrier, traveled across the westbound lane of the interstate and came to rest off of the road, substantially damaging the airplane. The terrain at the accident location sloped up towards the north, east and south. The temperature 21 miles south of the accident location was recorded as 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Density altitude was calculated to be 11,067 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper in-flight planning and decision making and failure to maintain clearance from the terrain. Contributing factors include the pilot's attempt to takeoff from the highway, high density altitude, the downdrafts, and the sign.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Vail |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81657 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393438N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1061455W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LXV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9927 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | 30.42 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18936 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 19 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| 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 | N4222R |
| NTSB Number | DEN05FA128 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-40587 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 229 |
| Airframe Hours | 3563.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | On File |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Green River |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82935 |
| 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 | RKS |
| Departure City | Rock Springs |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 840 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LXV |
| Destination City | Leadville |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 20 2005 4:41PM |
| 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 | -- |