Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Northglenn, Colorado 80234
Monday, May 5, 2014 15:44 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 5, 2014, at 1544 mountain daylight time, a Piper model PA-25-235 airplane, N4519Y, was destroyed when it impacted a residential structure and caught fire in Northglenn, Colorado. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to Airspeed Enterprises LLC and operated by Drag 'N' Fly Banners, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, without a flight plan. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local banner-tow flight that departed Platte Valley Airpark (18V), Hudson, Colorado, about 1500.
The pilot reported that the purpose of the banner-tow flight was to orbit Coors Field, located downtown Denver, Colorado, with a commercial advertisement billboard that measured 27 feet by 50 feet. He stated that there were no anomalies identified during his preflight inspection of the airplane and that he held a briefing with his ground support team before departing on runway 15. He entered the traffic pattern for runway 9 and retrieved the banner at 1505. After retrieving the banner, the flight proceeded west from 18V, staying below the Class B airspace, toward I-25 where he turned southbound toward downtown Denver and Coors Field. The pilot stated that while en route the airplane was not performing as expected, with little to no climb performance, but the engine was operating without any anomalies. He reported that the airplane was at 6,100 feet mean sea level, about 700 feet above the ground, when he decided to return to his departure point by making a right 180-degree turn toward north. However, before completing the turn he released the banner because of an excessive descent rate. The pilot reported that the airplane accelerated slightly after he released the banner, but it was still operating near an aerodynamic stall, and about 10-15 seconds after he released the banner, the airplane entered a stall/spin at a low altitude. The pilot stated that the airplane descended, inverted, into a residential area and collided with a house. The pilot reported that following the accident he released his restraints and exited the airplane uninjured. A postaccident fire ensued that destroyed the airplane and significantly damaged the house. There were no reports of any ground injuries.
Numerous witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying at a low altitude before it dropped its banner and descended into a residential area. One witness reported that the airplane was flying at a slow groundspeed in a nose-up flight attitude before it descended into the residential area. Several witnesses remarked that the towed-banner nearly came in contact with the power-lines as the airplane crossed over Huron Street.
At 1536, the automated surface observing system (ASOS) located at Erie Municipal Airport (EIK), about 8 miles from the accident site, reported: wind from 170 degrees at 10 knots, gusting 20 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear sky, temperature 27 degrees Celsius, dew point -10 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 29.78 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1544 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Northglenn |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80234 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395349N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050003W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1536 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 333 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EIK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KEIK 052136Z AUTO 17010G20KT 10SM CLR 27/M10 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Central Region Duty Offic |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 6 2014 3:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4519Y |
| NTSB Number | CEN14FA230 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-4069 |
| 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 | 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 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Airspeed Enterprises, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Northglenn |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80614 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Drag 'N' Fly Banners |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Larkspur |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80118 |
| 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) | Banner Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 18V |
| Departure City | Hudson |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 18V |
| Destination City | Hudson |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 6 2014 3:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |