- Date
- October 9, 2002, 13:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Watkins, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7672KPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Denver Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20021009026849A
- Case key
- 55857
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
the pilot's inability [not possible] to control the airplane during landing roll due to the failure of the left brake, and the subsequent inadvertent ground loop.
Analysis
The assistant airport manager said the airplane was landing on runway 8. He said the airplane ground looped and exited the south side of the runway. According to his accident report, the pilot said the left brake was "not there" on landing roll, and the right brake grabbed. He said a leakage of the left brake line was discovered upon examination of the airplane which resulted in the failure of the left brake. The outboard 8 feet of the left wing was bent upward, and the tip of the left elevator was bent.
Factual narrative
On October 9, 2002, at 1300 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-20, N7672K, was substantially damaged during a ground loop while landing at Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight that originated from Sylvia, Kansas, approximately 2 hours 30 minutes before the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
The assistant airport manager said the airplane was landing on runway 8. He said the airplane ground looped and exited the south side of the runway.
According to his accident report, the pilot said the left brake was "not there" on landing roll, and the right brake grabbed. He said a leakage of the left brake line was discovered upon examination of the airplane which resulted in the failure of the left brake.
The outboard 8 feet of the left wing was bent upward, and the tip of the left elevator was bent.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7672K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-493
- Airframe hours
- 4,041
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360 A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert K. Vasey
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 14, 2002 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- 3TA · Stafford, KS
- Destination
- FTG · Watkins, CO
- Airport
- FTG · Front Range, runway 08, 8,000 × 100 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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 24, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,560 total · 2,520 in this make and model · 8,350 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DEN, 8 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.