- Date
- August 27, 2021, 13:39 local (19:39 UTC)
- Place
- Granby, CO
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N522LGColumbia Aircraft Mfg LC41-550FG
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210827015089A
- Case key
- 103953
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s loss of control during landing in high density altitude conditions.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he was maneuvering to land at an airport in mountainous terrain with a field elevation of 8,203 ft mean sea level (msl). As he maneuvered to the east-southeast of the airport over rising terrain, he received a warning from the onboard avionics that he was 500 ft above ground level and two additional warnings for him to “pull up.” The pilot reported that the airplane then began to gain altitude and increase in performance. The pilot then pitched the airplane down and selected full flaps. He reported that his airspeed with in the “150s.” Of note, the maximum airspeed with flaps extended is 117 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS). The pilot continued with the approach and at the runway 1,000 ft mark, the airspeed was 130 knots, then at runway 2,000 ft mark, the airspeed was greater than 100 knots. The landing speed with flaps in the landing position is 85 to 90 KIAS. When the airplane was halfway down the runway (about 2,500 ft remaining) the pilot pressed the go-around button and advanced the throttle halfway for about two seconds before he advanced the throttle full forward. The pilot reported that the engine did not respond, and he checked the mixture and propeller controls and then examined the engine page on his digital display. When he looked outside the cockpit, the airplane had drifted to the right of the runway and continued to drift. The airplane stalled and then landed hard. The pilot reported that he thought he “experienced a wind shear situation” on landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The pilot did not report that there were any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The calculated density altitude at the time of the accident was 10,743 ft. The airplane was loaded with 3 passengers for a weight of about 3,250 lbs. The combination of weight and density altitude would have affected the airplane’s ability to climb as expected by the pilot. The recommended visual pattern when arriving from the south involved flying above the midpoint of the runway to the north and make a pattern to land, to avoid overflying high terrain and noise abatement areas. The pilot reported that in the preceding two years, he regularly operated out of airfields around 4,000 ft msl.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N522LG
- Reported as
- Columbia Aircraft Mfg LC41-550FG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 41609
- Built
- 2006
- Engine
- Cont Motor TSIO-550-C, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Malooly Alan L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KDNA · Santa Teresa, NM
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- GNB · Granby-Grand County, runway 27, 5,001 × 75 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 2, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 219 total · 141 in this make and model · 219 as pilot in command · 10.2 in the last 90 days · 4.2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 260° at 14 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- KGNB
- METAR
- METAR KGNB 271935Z AUTO 26014G17KT 10SM SCT085 23/04 A3026 RMK AO2 T02310039=
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 16, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.