- Date
- July 5, 2004, 13:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Limon, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1480EAeronca 7AC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 29, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20040705013989A
- Case key
- 59573
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 inadequate preflight planning/preparation. A contributing factor was the soft terrain in the takeoff area.
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.
Analysis
The airplane took off but was unable to climb sufficiently to avoid rising terrain. It also lost altitude in a turn, and the pilot felt he would be unable to return to the airport. He elected to land in a wheat field. The airplane sustained no damage. The pilot then decided to take off but without the passenger on board. After determining a suitable path to follow, a soft-field takeoff procedure was utilized. During the takeoff roll, the airplane contacted soft dirt and nosed over onto its back.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 2004, approximately 1315 mountain daylight time, an Aeronca 7AC, N1480E, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain and nosed over during an off-airport takeoff 1 mile north of Limon, Colorado. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Limon approximately 1230, and was en route to Watkins, Colorado.
According to the accident report submitted by the pilot, the airplane departed Limon northbound but was unable to climb sufficiently to avoid rising terrain. The airplane also lost altitude in a turn and the pilot felt he would be unable to return to Limon. He elected to land in a wheat field. The airplane sustained no damage. The pilot then decided to take off but without the passenger. After determining a suitable path to follow, a soft-field takeoff procedure was utilized. During the takeoff roll, the airplane contacted soft dirt and nosed over onto its back. The vertical stabilizer and rudder were crushed, and the wing lift struts were buckled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1480E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-5403
- Airframe hours
- 1,704
- Engine
- Continental A65-8F, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael C. Brown
- Registered owner
- Griffon Holder
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 5, 2004 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- LIC · Limon, CO
- Destination
- FTG · Watkins, CO
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
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- March 8, 2004
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,030 total · 135 in this make and model · 938 as pilot in command · 95 in the last 90 days · 40 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
- 82 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- LIC, 2 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.