Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blake Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Delta, Colorado 81416
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 10:35 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A crew was working on the parallel taxiway near the runway edge. The pilot taxied past the construction area and took off on runway 21. After about 30 minutes of flying, the pilot returned to the airport and made some touch-and-go landings. Another airplane entered the traffic pattern and announced he would be landing in the opposite direction on runway 03. The pilot yielded and also landed on runway 03. To avoid the construction crew, he maneuvered the airplane to the left of runway centerline. He noted that his airplane was "a short-coupled biplane," and that forward visibility in a conventional (3-point) attitude was limited. This caused him to get too close to the runway edge, and the left main landing gear went off the left side of the runway and into soft, muddy soil. The airplane swerved to the left, went through some high sage brush, struck a large rock, spun around and nosed down.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to select a touchdown point a safe distance from the construction crew, and his failure to maintain directional control of the airplane. Contributing factors in this accident included the pilot's limited forward visibility when the airplane was in a 3-point attitude, the soft terrain, and the rock.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/11/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1035 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Delta |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81416 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384707N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1080349W |
| Event Location Airport | Blake Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AJZ |
| 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 | 5193 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MTJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5759 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20827 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 9:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N511SH |
| NTSB Number | DEN07CA007 |
| 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 | Huff |
| Aircraft Model | Acro Sport I |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 01-12-47-02 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1230 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 60 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jack M. Sprague |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19653 Irving Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Austin |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81410 |
| 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 | AJZ |
| Departure City | Delta |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1015 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | AJZ |
| Destination City | Delta |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2006 1:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 5600 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |