Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Telluride Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Telluride, Colorado 80435
Saturday, February 9, 2008 11:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Unicom advised the pilot that the winds were from 260 degrees at 6 knots. He decided to land on runway 09 as per the airport's request to avoid flying over populated areas. He postponed dropping his flaps until he "had the runway made." This resulted in a 90 knot airspeed, "which is a little high," and he crossed the runway threshold at 50 feet agl (above ground level). Full flaps were deployed and he reduced airspeed as he approached the runway. He noticed his groundspeed "was quite a bit higher than what [he] was accustomed to." The first touchdown was 800 feet past the runway threshold and as he pulled back to flare, the airplane ballooned up 20 feet. The pilot flared again but the airplane dropped and bounced on the main gear, then the nose gear, which then collapsed. The propeller struck the runway and the airplane skidded to a halt.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper flare and his failure to maintain aircraft control, resulting in the design stress limits of the nose gear being exceeded. Contributing factors in this accident was the excessive airspeed, the pilot-induced porpoise of the airplane, and the tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/9/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Telluride |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80435 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 375701N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1075403W |
| Event Location Airport | Telluride |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TEX |
| 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 | 9078 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1130 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9078 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| 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) | 30.18 |
| 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) | 23479 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, Utah |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N315LP |
| NTSB Number | DEN08LA065 |
| 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 | Plocher |
| Aircraft Model | SHA-Glasair |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 315 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 700 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jon D. Biggs |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 Spring Creek Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Telluride |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BOI |
| Departure City | Boise |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TEX |
| Destination City | Telluride |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2008 5:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 6870 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |