- Date
- December 26, 1982, 08:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Leadville, CO
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 3 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N7611TCessna 172A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 26, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19821226066729A
- Case key
- 71399
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
When a witness arrived at the arpt, the acft was at the fuel pumps & the plt had the preheater attached. The witness rprtd there was frost on the acft & the plt brushed the loose frost off with his hands. The plt asked for a window scraper, which was provided, but the witness did not know what he did with it. Aft refueling, the plt started the eng & remained on the ramp a short time bfr taxiing. A tkof was initiated from the 5300 ft rwy in calm wnd conds. The elev & temp were 9927 ft MSL & 2 deg f. reportedly, the acft rolled for more than 3/4 of the rwy length before bcmg airborne. The witness rprtd that after lift-off, the acft did not gain altitude, but remained low, bgn a lft turn, then went down. Another witness obsvd the acft fall from a low alt & crash in a lft wing low attitude. A pax rprtd the plane seemed to slow dwn & lose alt aft tkof, as if it was too hvy. However, disregarding any frost/ice, the acft was estimated 88 lbs blo the max wt lmt. No preimpact, mechanical failure were found with the airframe or eng.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7611T
- Reported as
- Cessna 172A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 47211
- Airframe hours
- 3,489
- Engine
- Continental O-300-C, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Thomas A. Hardy
- Registered owner
- Thomas A. Hardy
- Departed
- LXV · Leadville, CO
- Destination
- 36U · Heber City, UT
- Airport
- LXV · Lake County, runway 34, 5,300 × 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 324 total · 324 in this make and model · 294 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Temperature
- 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LXV
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N7611T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.