DEN00LA088

During climb to cruise on a cross-country flight the passenger door came open and the pilot made a precautionary approach for landing at an airport along his route. After initiating descent for landing, the pilot discovered that the engine had lost all power. The landing was made short of the intended runway with the landing gear retracted. Following the landing, and evacuation of the aircraft by the pilot and his passengers, witnesses found the cockpit fully configured for flight with the throttle and propeller controls full forward and the magnetos and master switch on. However, the mixture was in the cutoff position. Examination and testing of the passenger door revealed no abnormalities. The flight was the pilot's first flight after being signed off as competent to perform as pilot in command in this make and model aircraft. He had accumulated approximately 4 hours flight experience in the aircraft with a total flight time of 207 hours all in single engine land airplanes.

On May 13, 2000, at 1414 mountain daylight time, a Beech V35B, N6643Q, owned and operated by Ten High Flyers, Inc., Lakewood, Colorado, lost all power during a precautionary approach for landing and the pilot made an emergency landing at Tri-County Airport, Erie, Colorado. The private pilot and his three passengers were not injured; however, the aircraft sustained substantial damage when it landed short of the runway with the landing gear in the retracted position. The flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and a VFR (visual flight rules) flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this personal flight which departed Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colorado, at 1355 for a flight to Hastings, Nebraska.

According to a representative of the flying club, who owned and operated the aircraft, the pilot was a "new" pilot to the aircraft and this was his first flight after being signed off as competent for pilot-in-command in the V35B. The representative said, "he met our club requirements for checkout (180 hours tt [total time], at least 3 hours dual, 2 rides on 2 different days, and finished his checkout on Wednesday, May 10." According to the information supplied by the pilot, he had approximately 4 hours experience in this make and model, and 207 hours total flight experience, all of which was in single engine land airplanes.

According to the pilot, the flight departed Jefferson County Airport (BJC) and was cleared for a northbound departure heading at approximately 6,200 feet above mean sea level (msl). The pilot said he continued north towards Tri-County Airport and leveled off at 6,500 feet msl. He said that as he was adjusting power for cruise flight the passenger door came open. When that event occurred the pilot said he turned toward Tri-County Airport which was approximately 3 miles away. Shortly thereafter, during descent, the pilot realized he did not have power and that he was approximately 1,000 feet above the ground. A landing gear retracted flaps extended landing was made approximately 800 feet short of the approach end of runway 33 on rough, uneven terrain.

Witnesses located at Tri-County Airport observed the aircraft approach and land with the landing gear retracted and the flaps extended. Several of these witnesses proceeded to the aircraft following the landing, and two of them documented the cockpit configuration after the occupants exited the aircraft. One witness found the master switch, magnetos, and strobe light on and turned them off. The second witness noted the throttle and propeller controls to be full forward and the mixture in the cutoff position.

The pilot talked to another witness and told that witness that "the door popped open and he tried to slow down and close it, and the engine quit."

On May 22, 2000, the engine was inspected and run. It was still mounted on the airframe and the normal, uncompromised, fuel feed system was in place. The only changes made were that approximately 14 inches was cut from each exhaust stack where the stacks exited the cowl due to crush damage, which occurred during the landing gear retracted landing, and a replacement propeller was installed due to the original propeller being damaged during the landing. The engine started and ran normally.

The passenger entry door was examined and tested. No deficiencies were found and the door latched and unlatched in a normal fashion.