Erie Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Erie, Colorado 80516
Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:25 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the final approach for a full stop landing, the airplane was configured to an airspeed of 60 knots and a flap setting of 15 degrees. The instructor reported, "The airplane was flared and touched down on the main wheels then the nose wheel was lowered at approximately A2 taxiway slightly right of centerline. I instructed the student that we would continue to roll-out and decelerate to the end of the runway to avoid using too much brake or rudder pressure due to their extreme sensitivity. I then instructed the student to apply light rudder pressure to realign the aircraft with the runway centerline. Ample left rudder pressure was applied and countered with opposite right rudder pressure resulting in pilot induced oscillations. The aircraft swerved dramatically from left to right and then again to the left and right where it exited the runway surface. The plane came to a stop in a drainage ditch on the right side of runway 33 and slightly north of the closed runway." During the traffic pattern and landing, the flight instructor and student were both on the airplane controls. The winds were reported as calm during the accident. The flight training supplement for the accident airplane instructs pilots not to apply main wheel brakes unintentionally when taxiing. The flight training supplement also states that aircraft steering at higher speeds is more sensitive, therefore smaller deflections of the rudder control pedals are required to maintain directional control. Examination of the airplane revealed the nose gear was bent aft and the firewall was buckled.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. Contributing factors were the delayed remedial action and inadequate supervision by the flight instructor, and the ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/15/2007
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1125
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Erie
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80516
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 400036N
Event Location Longitude 1050252W
Event Location Airport Erie Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID EIK
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 5130
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 23059
NTSB Notification Source Skyraider Aviation
NTSB Notification Date Nov 15 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2008 3:59PM
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 N617EV
NTSB Number DEN08LA031
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 Evektor-Aerotechnik
Aircraft Model Sportstar Plus
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2007 1001
Certified Max Gross Weight 1268
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 Nov 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 33
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Skyraider Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Erie
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80516
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code EIK
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time 1045
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code EIK
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 7 2008 9:04AM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 4700
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --