Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Whitewater, Colorado 81527
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 8:57 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot of the Cessna 180, he was descending westbound from 16,500 feet to 8,500 feet. As he passed 10,500 feet, he peered out the passenger window, hoping to catch a glimpse of deer. At approximately 10,000 feet, his passenger yelled and he saw the other airplane approaching head-on. He dove his airplane, then felt an impact. He made a forced landing in a field and the airplane nosed over. According to the pilot of the other airplane, he was climbing eastbound between 9,500 and 10,500 feet into the sun when he heard a loud "bang" and thought that he had struck a bird. He elected to return to the airport to have the damage assessed. After several unsuccessful attempts to lower the nose gear, the pilot landed the airplane with the nose gear up. The airplane skidded on its nose for approximately 300 feet before coming to a stop.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Both pilots' failure to see and avoid the other airplane. Contributing factors in this accident were the Cessna 180 pilot's attention being diverted and the Cessna 210 pilot's vision being affected by the sun glare.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/22/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 857 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Whitewater |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81527 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 385637N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1082059W |
| 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 | 853 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 307 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.52 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KGJT 221453Z 28003KT 10SM CLR 03/M10 A3053 R |
| 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 | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25174 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ANM ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 9 2009 8:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3389D | N731NX |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA031A | CEN09LA031B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 180 | P210 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32187 | P21000515 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 | 4016 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 | 5 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 28 2008 12:00AM | Jun 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 4550 | 8093 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Miel Del Rio Grande, Inc. | Mesa County |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3927 N. Road 3 W. | P.O. Box 20000 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Monte Vista | Grand Junction |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81144 | 81502 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Miel Del Rio Grande, Inc. | Mesa County |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3927 N. Road 3 W. | P.O. Box 20000 |
| Operator City | Monte Vista | Grand Junction |
| Operator State | CO | CO |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 81144 | 81502 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| 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 | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 8V1 | GJT |
| Departure City | Del Norte | Grand Junction |
| Departure State | CO | CO |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 724 | 827 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VNL | 1V6 |
| Destination City | Vernal | Florence |
| Destination State | UT | CO |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2009 12:24PM | Apr 2 2009 10:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |