Boulder Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boulder, Colorado 80301
Saturday, January 25, 2014 16:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot flew a round robin cross-country flight to practice touch and go landings at nearby airports. At one airport, he aborted the landing due to "moderate to severe turbulence on final." During the approach to the destination airport, he aborted his first approach due to strong winds and turbulence and decided to go around. During his second approach, the airplane lost about 200 feet of altitude following a downdraft. The pilot applied full throttle to gain airspeed. A wind gust lifted the airplane's right wing and the pilot applied full right aileron. The airplane's left wing, the left main landing gear, and the nose landing gear impacted terrain where the airplane skidded for 100 to 150 feet and sustained substantial wing damage. Subsequent to the accident, the pilot became aware of the airport/facility directory remarks for turbulence associated with the selected runway. Additionally, he reported that the airplane did not have any mechanical malfunctions during the accident flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during final approach with known turbulence present.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/25/2014
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Boulder
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80301
Event Date Year 2014
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 400221N
Event Location Longitude 1051301W
Event Location Airport BOULDER MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BDU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 92
Airport Elevation 5288
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1556 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 272
Weather Observation Facility ID BDU
Elevation of weather observation facility 5288
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 22
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KBDU 252256Z AUTO 32014G22KT 272V332 10SM CLR 15/M
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 3
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 32325
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 Feb 3 2014 6:18PM
User who most recently changed record male
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N738LQ
NTSB Number CEN14CA123
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 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier N
Aircraft Serial Number 17270065
Certified Max Gross Weight 2299
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 3 2014 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 9704
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name DAVISON JOSEPH E JR
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City BROOMFIELD
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 800201110
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Journeys Aviation Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Boulder
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80301
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 LMO
Departure City LONGMONT
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
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 Feb 3 2014 4:38PM
User who most recently changed record male
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 4100
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --