- Date
- September 10, 1982, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pagosa Springs, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N123EZVari-Eze
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 10, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820910048699A
- Case key
- 72137
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
Due to an approaching thunderstorm from the west, the pilot elected to make a takeoff on runway 04 with a quartering tail wind. The surface was wet and there was about a 20 ft rise in the last half of the runway. The runway was 5600 ft long, but its elevation was 7674 ft and the temperature was 65 deg. The pilot stated that when he was at about mid-field during the takeoff, he had accelerated to 60 KTS, but the hill at the east end would have made it difficult to fly off, so he decided to abort. He was unable to stop on the remaining wet runway. After departing the runway, the aircraft went through a fence and down a rocky slope.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N123EZ
- Reported as
- Vari-Eze
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 802
- Airframe hours
- 271
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bruce M. Muirhead
- Registered owner
- Bruce M. Muirhead
- Departed
- 2VI · Pagosa Springs, CO
- Destination
- IV5 · Boulder, CO
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 2VI · Stevens Field, runway 4, 5,600 × 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
- 62
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,451 total · 271 in this make and model · 1,451 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Temperature
- 149 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.