- Date
- December 7, 2006, 17:25 local (Dec 8, 2006, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Falcon, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6487JPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20061207026069A
- Case key
- 64982
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
loss of power due to carburetor icing. Contributing factors were weather conditions conducive to carburetor icing, unsuitable terrain available on which to make a forced landing and the tree.
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 established on a base leg for runway 15 when the engine lost power. The pilot lined up with an adjacent road and continued for a forced landing. The pilot stated that prior to the landing he checked his carburetor heat, mixture, throttle, and magnetos in attempt to troubleshoot the power loss. He stated that he observed car lights and "swerved into [the] tree." The airplane became lodged in the tree, resulting in substantial damage. An examination of the engine and related systems revealed no anomalies. The routine aviation weather report reported, temperature minus 01 degrees Celsius (C); dewpoint, minus 05 degrees C. According to the carburetor icing probability chart conditions were conducive for "serious icing at glide power" and "serious icing at cruise power."
Factual narrative
The pilot was established on a base leg for runway 15 (6,000 feet by 60 feet, asphalt) when the engine lost power. The pilot lined up with an adjacent road and continued for a forced landing. Prior to the landing he checked his carburetor heat, mixture, throttle, and magnetos in an attempt to troubleshoot the power loss. He stated that he observed car lights and "swerved into [the] tree." The airplane became lodged in the tree, crushing both wings aft and wrinkling the vertical stabilizer.
The airplane was removed from the tree and relocated to a hangar in Greeley, Colorado, for further examination. An examination of the engine and related systems revealed no anomalies.
The closest official weather observation station was City of Colorado Springs (COS), Colorado Springs, Colorado, located 11.6 nautical miles (nm) south southwest of the accident site. The elevation of the weather observation station was 6,184 feet msl. The routine aviation weather report (METAR) for COS, issued at 1654, reported, temperature minus 01 degrees Celsius (C); dewpoint, minus 05 degrees C. According to the carburetor icing probability chart conditions were conducive for "serious icing at glide power" and "serious icing at cruise power."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6487J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-4917
- Airframe hours
- 3,950.3
- Engine
- Lycoming O&VO-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2006 · 75.7 hours before
- Departed
- 00V · Falcon, CO
- Destination
- 00V · Falcon, CO
- Airport
- 00V · Meadow Lake Airport, runway 15, 6,000 × 60 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
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,109 total · 1 in this make and model · 912 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 160° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.43 inHg
- Observed at
- KCOS, 11 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 17, 2007, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.