Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Melon Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rocky Ford, Colorado 81067
Tuesady, January 31, 2006 12:10 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot opened the throttle 1/8-inch and hand-started the engine (starting the engine by turning the propeller by hand). A second person held onto the empennage. The engine started and the person holding the empennage "let go...to get a better grip." The pilot was unable to get into the cockpit so he grabbed the right wing's lift strut. The airplane started turning in circles to the right and collided with a storage building. Several wing ribs were broken and the leading edge was damaged. The lift strut, right landing gear, cowling, engine and propeller were also damaged. The pilot said he was unfamiliar with the airport and did not know where the tie downs were located until someone pointed them out.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to use tie downs before attempting to hand-start the engine. A contributing factor was his failure to seek adequate assistance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/31/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Rocky Ford |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81067 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380055N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1034157W |
| Event Location Airport | Melon Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2V8 |
| 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 | 4260 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 65 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LHX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4238 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.65 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19975 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 31 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| 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 | N28315 |
| NTSB Number | DEN06LA037 |
| 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 | Interstate |
| Aircraft Model | S-1A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | Oct 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 923 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mark E. Holloway |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Canon City |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81212 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 2V8 |
| Departure City | Rocky Ford |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1210 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1V6 |
| Destination City | Canon City |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - starting engine(s) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 12 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |