Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Salida, Colorado 81201
Monday, August 7, 2006 10:20 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and his passenger were returning to California after attending the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention (AirVenture 2006) in Wisconsin. The airplane arrived the evening before and was refueled. The next morning, the pilot obtained a Computer Science Corporation (CSC) Direct User Access Terminal System (DUATS) weather briefing and filed a VFR flight plan. The pilot asked which route he should take to go to Utah. He said he wanted to fly west across Monarch Pass (elevation 11,312 feet msl). It was suggested that he fly south through Poncha Pass before turning west. The airplane took off at 0945, and turned right towards Monarch Pass. Witnesses reported seeing a low-wing single-engine airplane flying north up a canyon. One witness 2 miles from the accident site said he saw a low-flying airplane pass overhead and fly into a valley. When it failed to emerge, the witness went to investigate and found the wreckage. The accident site was at an elevation of 12,020 feet msl and was surrounded by 13,000 and 14,000-foot mountain peaks. The airplane's right wing struck trees and the airplane came to rest inverted 250 feet away. The landing gear was down and the flaps were up.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation. Contributing factors in this accident were the pilot's lack of familiarity with the geographical area, his becoming lost/disoriented, his improper decision, the high density altitude, and the reduction in the airplane's climb performance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1020 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Salida |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81201 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1061800W |
| 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 | 1030 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MYP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11995 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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) | 30.83 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20953 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2007 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6506C |
| NTSB Number | DEN06FA111 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-201 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7837170 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Geoffrey G. Peck |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3075 Marston Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Jose |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95148 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 0V2 |
| Departure City | Salida |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MLF |
| Destination City | Milford |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2006 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |