Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cortez, Colorado 81321
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 15:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that he was attempting to land in a pasture next to his home when he noticed a horse near the approach end. He elected to land long to avoid the horse but realized there was not enough pasture remaining. He attempted a go-around and added full power but could not arrest the sink rate. He decided to land the airplane in the remaining pasture. He landed with power in a nose high attitude at stall speed. The left wing struck the ground, causing the airplane to rotate 180 degrees to the left, and the right wingtip dragged along the ground. The pilot said he was not use to the extra weight of a full fuel load and carrying a rear seat passenger with a 5 knot tailwind. Density altitude at the time of the accident was calculated to be 7,741 feet mean seal level (msl).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane, resulting in a ground loop. Contributing factors were the excessive descent rate, the obstacle (horse), the high density altitude, and the tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/26/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Cortez |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81321 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371811N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1083741W |
| 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 | 5918 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CEZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5918 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19495 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 27 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | SLC FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4055Z |
| NTSB Number | DEN06LA011 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-8060 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3603 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Martin M Lawrence |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 22350 MC Road D.6 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cortez |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81321 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Cortez |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Cortez |
| 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 27 2006 4:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |