40.2270° N, 104.9883° WPlaced by OpenAirDocs: center of Mead, CO, within about 6 miles.Open in the map
Date
July 17, 1981 · 17:10 local
Place
Mead, CO
Phase of flight
Climb
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Destroyed
Aircraft
N6890U
Reported as
Smith 601PSMITH
Reported engine
Lycoming IO540A1A5
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
1
Pilot’s flight hours
688 total75 in this make and model75 in the last 90 days
From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Flew high performance airplane into thunderstorm turbulence. Lost control, stalled and spun in. Low time in type.
As the FAA filed it
FLEW HIGH PERFORMANCE AIRPLANE INTO THUNDERSTORM TURBULENCE. LOST CONTROL, STALLED AND SPUN IN. LOW TIME IN TYPE.