- Date
- September 6, 2004, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Buena Vista, CO
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N727DGCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Denver Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20040906022929A
- Case key
- 60061
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 failure to maintain directional control. Contributing to the accident was the gusty winds and the dirt devil encountered by the aircraft.
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
According to the pilot, he was landing on runway 33 when the airplane encountered a "dust devil." Subsequently, the airplane ground looped, coming to rest on the right side of the runway causing substantial damage. A postaccident examination of the airplane systems, conducted by the FAA, revealed no anomalies. Winds in the area were reported as 320 at 11 knots with gusts to 14 knots.
Factual narrative
On September 6, 2004, at approximately 1530 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 180, N727DG, piloted by an airline transport pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during the landing roll at Central Colorado Regional Airport, Buena Vista, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot and his two passengers reported no injuries. The cross-country flight had originated at Leadville, Colorado, at 1500.
According to the accident report submitted by the pilot, he was landing on runway 33 when the airplane encountered a "dust devil." Subsequently, the airplane ground looped, coming to rest on the right side of the runway. The left wing and the left horizontal stabilizer were bent. A postaccident examination of the airplane's systems, conducted by the FAA, revealed no anomalies.
Winds at Leadville, Colorado, 25 nautical miles northwest of Buena Vista, were reported as 320 at 11 knots with gusts to 14 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N727DG
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31710
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 15, 2003 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- LXV · Leadville, CO
- Destination
- 7V1 · Buena Vista, CO
- Airport
- 7V1 · Buena Vista Municipal Airport, runway 33, 8,300 × 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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport, Commercial, Military
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 1,146 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 11 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.43 inHg
- Observed at
- LXV, 25 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.