Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Parker, Colorado 80138
Sunday, August 26, 2012 9:46 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed the airport, made a left turn to the east, and climbed to an altitude of 6,700 feet mean sea level (msl) at a groundspeed of about 93 knots. About 5 minutes after departing the airport, the airplane initiated a left descending turn and disappeared off radar. Two witnesses who lived near the accident site heard the airplane approach. One witness said the engine sounded normal. As they went outside to see the airplane, the witnesses saw the airplane go over their house at a low altitude, and one witness went to the back of the house to continue to watch the airplane. After he got to the back of his house, the witness saw the airplane in a tight left descending spiral in about a 45-degree nose-down pitch angle.
A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. A review of weather conditions at the time of the accident revealed that the density altitude was about 8,250 feet. The elevation at the accident site was 6,170 feet msl. The high density altitude would have reduced the airplane’s climb performance by about 67 percent, which could explain the airplane’s reduced climb performance. When the pilot was interviewed 7 months after the accident occurred, he said he could not recall anything that occurred on the day of the accident. However, it is likely that the airplane stalled as a result of reduced airspeed and climb performance while operating at a high density altitude.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control of the airplane due to the airplane’s reduced climb performance during high density altitude operations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/26/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 946 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Parker |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80138 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393314N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044402W |
| 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 | 953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5885 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| 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) | 25 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KAPA 261617Z 25006KT 10SM FEW080 26/04 A3022 RMK A |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31207 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ANM Regl Opns Center - Sea |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 22 2013 5:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N152RB |
| NTSB Number | CEN12FA572 |
| 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 | EBERLE JOHN S |
| Aircraft Model | FOKKER DR-1 TRIPLANE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20936 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 638.38 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ANDREW J PARKS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | HIGHLANDS RANCH |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80126-4766 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ANDREW J PARKS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | HIGHLANDS RANCH |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80126-4766 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | 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 |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | APA |
| Departure City | Englewood |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 941 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 18V |
| Destination City | Fort Lupton |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 27 2012 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |