- Date
- March 4, 1982, 14:50 local (21:50 UTC)
- Place
- Aspen, CO
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5755QMooney M20E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 4, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820304002279A
- Case key
- 69817
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 aircraft collided with a tree on top of a 12,000 foot mountain after it had departed Aspen, en route to denver. The aircraft should have climbed over the mountain without problems. The pilot only remembers the airspeed decaying and lowering full flaps prior to colliding with the tree. Both occupants received only minor injuries during the accident but were not rescued for three days. The passenger died from hypothermia and the pilot received serious frost bite of both feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5755Q
- Reported as
- Mooney M20E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 736
- Airframe hours
- 2,693
- Engine
- Lycoming TSIO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William L. Clayborn
- Registered owner
- William L. Clayborn
- Departed
- Aspen, CO
- Destination
- Denver, 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 6,050 total · 300 in this make and model · 2,700 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 315° at 30 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.