Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boulder, Colorado 80301
Tuesady, August 9, 2011 17:14 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After two parachutists jumped from the airplane, the pilot began a descent and applied carburetor heat. The pilot reduced power for a straight-in approach while the airplane was passing through 9,000 feet mean sea level and about 3 miles from the destination airport. She then attempted to add power to adjust the descent rate, but the engine did not respond. The pilot then fully reduced the engine power then tried to advance the throttle with no response. After performing the power loss checklist, she continued toward the runway but, after encountering a downdraft, she chose to conduct a forced landing to an open field. Upon touchdown, the airplane collided with trees at the edge of the field. The propeller assembly was found attached to the engine hub, and both blades were straight with little damage consistent with them not being powered at the time of impact.
About 5 gallons of fuel were drained from the left fuel tank and about 0.5 gallon was drained from the right fuel tank. The fuel selector was found in the “both” position. Because of the fuel leakage due to impact damage, it was not possible to determine exactly how much fuel was onboard at the time of the accident; however, enough fuel was present in the lines to determine that fuel starvation did not occur. No evidence of debris, obstructions, or water contamination was identified in the fuel gascolator. About 8.5 quarts of oil were found in the engine. Some oil residue was found on the belly skin of the airplane and was identified to have originated from an aftermarket oil drain installation.
The front underside of the airframe was damaged and pushed upward underneath the engine compartment near the air induction box. When moved by hand, the throttle linkage to the air induction box did not move smoothly and was stiff. The throttle linkage to the induction box was adjusted, and the engine was test run while still in the airframe mounts. It started normally and ran at various power settings with no anomalies noted. Throughout the engine test run, the engine accelerated normally. A magneto rpm drop check was normal. The damage underneath the engine compartment near the box precluded a determination of whether the throttle linkage anomaly was present before impact. However, given that the engine ran normally after the throttle linkage adjustment, it is likely that the throttle linkage anomaly did occur before impact and contributed to the loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The malfunction of the throttle linkage to the induction air box, which resulted in a loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1714 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boulder |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80301 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400216N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1051229E |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1649 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BJC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBJC 092249Z 11003KT 50SM FEW070 BKN140 33/M |
| 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) | 33034 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - DEN FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2014 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8717T |
| NTSB Number | CEN11FA559 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 52617 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 28 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3853 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Fly High Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 836 S 6th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Canon City |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81212 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Fly High Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 836 S 6th Street |
| Operator City | Canon City |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 81212 |
| 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) | Skydiving |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KBDU |
| Departure City | Boulder |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1645 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KBDU |
| Destination City | Boulder |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2014 12:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |