DEN03LA003

The pilot was unfamiliar with the airport and asked ground control for directions to transient parking. She was directed to an area southeast of the control tower, but the ramp was full. The pilot said her husband was talking and directing her. She asked him to be quiet but he kept talking. During the "spirited discussion," the pilot lost focus and concentration, and misjudged her relative position to a steel light post near a building. The pilot also said the sun was in her eyes. The airplane's left wing struck a pole, damaging the leading edge just outboard of the lift strut, and crushing the aft spar.

On October 6, 2002, approximately 1000 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N65312, operated by Aspen Flying Club, of Englewood, Colorado, was substantially damaged when it collided with a pole while taxiing from landing at Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colorado. The private pilot and her passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, approximately 0910.

The flight to, and landing at, Jefferson County Airport was uneventful. According to the pilot, she was unfamiliar with the airport and asked ground control for directions to transient parking. She was directed to an area southeast of the control tower, but the ramp was full. The pilot wrote, "My passenger (husband) was talking a lot and directing me. I asked him to be quiet and he did not. We were having a spirited discussion about what to do, and I lost focus and concentration misjudged my relative position to a steel light post (near a building)." The airplane's left wing struck a pole, damaging the leading edge just outboard of the lift strut, and crushing the aft spar. In a telephone interview, the pilot said the sun was in her eyes, causing her to misjudge the clearance between the airplane and the pole.