- Date
- May 23, 1985, 12:17 local (18:17 UTC)
- Place
- Watkins, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N781VYChampion 7FC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850523027999A
- Case key
- 16682
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
A witness stated the acft veered aprx 30 degs during the landing roll and was heading toward the north edge of the rwy when full pwr was added to abort the landing. The acft took off and traveled over a grass and wheat field, which borders the rwy, with the landing gear touching the tops of the wheat. Witness continued to report, 'the pilot then gained an estimated 40 feet of altitude AGL but also appeared to be, in my opinion, close to full stall.' The acft continued to fly along the north side of the rwy for aprx 2500 ft before it entered a steep right bank and collided with the ground right wing tip first. Post accident examination of the acft disclosed a broken main aileron bellcrank. Metallurgical examination revealed the bellcrank failure resulted from a sudden overload. The plt had a total of 5 hrs flt time in this make and model acft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N781VY
- Reported as
- Champion 7FC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7FC 319
- Airframe hours
- 800
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ivey Simmons
- Registered owner
- Daniel Beckman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 7, 1984 · 43 hours before
- Departed
- APA · Englewood, CO
- Airport
- Front Range, runway 26, 8,000 × 100 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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 282 total · 5 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.