Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boulder Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boulder, Colorado 80021
Sunday, September 1, 2013 11:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he had flown a group of skydivers to altitude for an intentional parachute jump about 3 miles north of the airport and was returning for landing at the time of the accident. The airplane was on final approach when the engine lost power. The pilot's attempts to restore engine power were unsuccessful, and he ditched the airplane into a lake short of the runway. The pilot reported using carburetor heat during the descent; however, the pilot did not periodically apply engine power (clear the engine) during the descent. According to FAA Advisory Circular 20-113, Pilot Precautions and Procedures to be Taken in Preventing Aircraft Reciprocating Engine Induction System and Fuel System Icing Problems, "Heat should be applied for a short time to warm the induction system before beginning a prolonged descent with the engine throttled and left on during the descent. Power lever advancement should be performed periodically during descent to assure that power recovery can be achieved." A postaccident engine examination did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction. Local weather conditions were conducive to the formation of carburetor icing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately clear carburetor icing, resulting in a loss of engine power on final approach following a descent at idle power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boulder |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80021 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395432N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050702W |
| Event Location Airport | Boulder Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BDU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5288 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1047 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 136 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BJC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5673 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.3 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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) | 32183 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA -- AWM ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2013 4:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6460A |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA525 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 33260 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 4 |
| 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 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | N6460A LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Boulder |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80308-1321 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | N6460A LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Boulder |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80308-1321 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BDU |
| Departure City | Boulder |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1035 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BDU |
| 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 | Jan 30 2014 9:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 4100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |